Thursday, June 19, 2025

School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) recent graduates Luke Ayers and Eleanor Ball each received prestigious recognition from the Library of Congress this spring.

Ayers is on a General Collections Internship this summer in Washington D.C. As an intern, he is providing treatments of general and reference collections, including using various re-casing techniques, re-backing and spine repairs, and paper mending.

“Working at the Library of Congress is very cool, and it makes my nerdy heart happy.” - Luke Ayers

Ball is a Junior Fellow at the Library of Congress Center for Learning, Literacy, and Engagement. She is working online on initiatives such as developing literary programming (e.g., the National Book Festival) and administering literary ambassadorships (e.g., U.S. Poet Laureate).

“I applied for this fellowship because I wanted more programming experience, and that’s an important area of libraries,” Ball says.

UNI Panther faculty member

Ball will benefit from this work when she begins a three-year appointment with the University of Northern Iowa this August as an assistant professor of instruction and an information literacy and liaison librarian.

 

Eleanor Ball
Eleanor Ball has been hired as an assistant professor of instruction and an information literacy and liaison librarian at the University of Northern Iowa.

 

“Even though my work at the Library of Congress doesn’t directly correlate to what I’m going to be doing at UNI, there are transferable skills dealing with communication and patron needs,” Ball says. “As a fellow, I am analyzing and collecting data about the patrons we serve for our programs.”

A paper conservator

Ayers brings capable work history to his internship. As a SLIS student, Ayers focused on book repair and conservation. He worked in the UI Libraries Collections Care Department for three years and served as an apprentice in the Paper Conservation Lab at the State Historical Society of Iowa.

“For the UI’s Libraries General Collection, we do book repair so they can go back onto the shelves, be happy, and be taken home without falling apart,” Ayers says. “People in the Conservation Lab take care of special collections materials, which are a lot more delicate, and you don’t want to be invasive.” 

These opportunities from the Library of Congress will provide both Ayers and Ball with invaluable experience as they head into their professional careers.

 

Luke Ayers
Luke Ayers