Past
I never enjoyed history in high school or college, yet it is ironic that I have spent the past 16 years of my life preserving history.
I started working in Trexler Library for my work-study job in September of 1991, and I even worked during the summer months. My responsibilities were at the circulation desk and with Phyllis Vogel doing interlibrary loan. I graduated in May of 1995, and I figured that would be my last time at the library since I was looking for a high school English teaching job. It was late that summer that the library director at that time, Cait Kokolus, brought me upstairs into a storage room, showed me a bunch of boxes, and asked me if I could organize the material. Organization is my forte, so I was eager to begin my new task. The boxes contained bulletins, pamphlets, programs from various events, yearbooks, photographs, annual reports, and a potpourri of items. I sorted the items into categories, ordered special archival storage boxes, and created a listing of the items in each box.
Present
 Here I am 16 years later, still working as the archivist in Trexler library in the summer and occasional days throughout the school year. The collection has grown tremendously because I send inquiries to the college community asking for materials to keep the collection current and to fill in the gaps that exist. I also have an area on the university website where people can view the holdings of the collection.
Future
History is happening now and collecting materials today will help people tomorrow. DeSales University is young, and we must preserve the history before the important documents are discarded. What one may think is unimportant today, may be invaluable to someone doing research or preparing a celebration, tomorrow or 100 years from now.
- Terri (McCarthy) Jones '95
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