Introducing Our New Library Assistant IV

We are delighted to welcome our new Library Assistant IV, Diana Sanchez. Diana has been a Student Clerk with Special Collections since January 2022 during which she has assisted with the John Peace Library Reading Room as well as outreach, collection inventorying, and instruction.

Tell us a bit about your background.

I am a UTSA graduate for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees! I graduated in the Spring of 2021 with my Bachelor’s in History (with a double minor in Latin American Studies and Politics & Law). In the Spring of 2023, I graduated with my Master’s in History. My concentration in graduate school was modern Mexican history.

During graduate school, I began by working as a Graduate Research Assistant and a Reader/Grader. It was during my second semester that I got the opportunity that I had been waiting for, to work as a Student Worker at UTSA Libraries Special Collections. I was able to work with Special Collections for a majority of my graduate education, completing 3 semesters with the department upon graduation.

What excites you about being the Library Assistant IV at UTSA Special Collections?

The thing that excites me the most about being the new Library Assistant IV for the UTSA Libraries Special Collections are all the opportunities that I will have to work and interact directly with community members of San Antonio through outreach events. As someone with a background primarily in history and historical research, I am very excited to be a part of that link connecting researchers, community members, and students alike!

Being from the wider South Texas region, having been born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, I feel very connected to many of the communities that are prioritized both in the collection material content and through the many outreach events that Special Collections participates in. Even as a Student Worker, I found it incredibly fulfilling and exciting to be on the ground, getting to talk with anybody and everybody that was interested in or felt any sort of connection to our collections. 

What’s your favorite thing about working with Special Collections so far?

So far, my favorite thing about working with the Special Collections is getting to delve into all the manuscript collections that are housed at the Graduate School & Research Building. Not only will I be doing a lot of retrievals for patrons, but I will also get to delve into many of the collections in order to answer research questions and possibly create my own research blog posts.