Where in the world are the Library interns from?

Ilaria Camerini is excited to spend her summer here in Corning, New York. To this resident of Rome, Italy, working abroad “means having the possibility to share ideas and experiences with colleagues from different countries.” She will join 12 other interns who come from across the United States to work at The Corning Museum of Glass this summer, including several who will work alongside her at the Rakow Research Library.

Ilaria, Erin Fitterer, Allison Shanafelter, and Anna Halgash are the latest students and young professionals to gain experience by working at the Rakow Library. Over the past decade, Library interns have worked in every area of the department. They have helped with important day-to-day tasks like cataloging books and other materials, processing archival collections, answering reference questions, creating web and social media content, and leading tours and instruction. They have also helped out on special projects like conserving large-scale stained-glass cartoons for the Discovering the Whitefriars Collection project, assisting with Library exhibitions, and collecting and indexing recordings for our oral history project.

Many previous Library interns have come from cities and towns across upstate New York and in nearby Pennsylvania and Canada, but we have also hosted interns from as far afield as New Mexico and Washington state, Spain and Italy. Our current group of summer interns and volunteers hail from three regions of the United States and Rome, Italy. We are excited to bring them to Corning for the summer to work at the Library.

Ilaria Camerini and Erin Fitterer, paper conservation interns

Ilaria Camerini and Erin Fitterer join us as conservation interns. In addition to treating books, photographs, documents, and works of art on paper, they will be the fourth set of paper conservators to work on the Discovering the Whitefriars project.

Ilaria grew up in Rome. She has earned two master’s degrees, one in Conservation of Cultural Heritage from the Tor Vergata University of Rome and the other in Methods, Materials and Technologies for Cultural Heritage from the Roma Tre University. She has worked as an intern and freelanced for several organizations in Rome, among them the Vatican Museums, the Historical Archive and Historical Museum of Carabinieri’s General Command, and the State Archive of Rome. Ilaria is excited to work on the Rakow Library’s collections, and in particular the Whitefriars stained glass cartoons. She fell in love with stained glass cartoons at the Vatican Museums, where she helped conserve Henri Matisse’s stained glass cartoon for “The Tree of Life.”

Erin spent her childhood moving around California and Washington state, but considers Seattle, Washington, her hometown. At Seattle University, she earned a bachelor’s degree in history and English. She spent several years as an analyst for technology companies before heading back to school to earn her master’s degree in art history from Rutgers University. While there, Erin toured several conservation labs. The melding of science and art intrigued her, and influenced her decision to attend a graduate program in conservation. Her experience includes working for several institutions in the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, and she recently assisted with the re-installation of the Middle Eastern Galleries at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Along with gaining conservation experience, Erin is looking forward to exploring the region during her stay in Corning.

Allison Shanafelter, public services intern

Allison Shanafelter joins the Library as the public services intern. She will split her time between reference and outreach work, researching questions about glass and sharing those questions with the Museum’s followers on social media.

Allison grew up in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature and German from Binghamton University. She is currently in the last quarter of her master’s degree program at Drexel University’s library school. Allison already has experience in a museum library, having worked at the front desk of the Rosenbach Museum and Library. Through this position, she has learned about aspects of day-to-day museum operations including development, programming and event planning, and volunteer management. Allison has also interned at the library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, where she processed the institutional archives. She has even taken a beginning flameworking class to learn marble-making, saying, “unfortunately, none have turned out round yet.” In the future, Allison hopes to further her education by studying audiovisual preservation and special collections.

Anna Halgash, archives volunteer

Anna Halgash joins us as a volunteer archives assistant. During the summer, she will rehouse and inventory slides submitted to New Glass Review from its beginning in 1979 through 2008 (the last year slides were submitted). This project will help the Museum prepare for the 40th anniversary of New Glass Review and provide access to the names of all artists who submitted by publication year.

Anna and her family recently moved to Corning from Austin, Texas. In Austin, she attended St. Michael’s Catholic Academy, where she discovered her interests in writing, history, and research from her mentor and academic advisor — the school librarian. While there, Anna was the head editor of the school’s annual literary journal Erin. She is currently an undergraduate student at The College of Wooster in Ohio where she works on the poetry and prose staff of the college’s student-run literary magazine The Goliard. She has also apprenticed as an assistant editor for the Artful Dodge, an independent international literary magazine based at the college. Anna’s own work has been published in various journals and anthologies, including The Goliard. She is looking forward to gaining practical hands-on training and experience in archival theories, processes, and practices.

Learn more about the 2018 summer Library interns, and read posts from previous Library interns about their work. Interested in applying for an internship at the Rakow Library or elsewhere at The Corning Museum of Glass? Find opportunities here.

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The Rakow Research Library is open to the public 9 am to 5 pm every day. We encourage everyone to explore our collections in person or online. If you have questions or need help with your research, please use our Ask a Glass Question service.