Samantha Temple, a WKU senior from Springhill Tennessee with a major in English with a concentration in Professional Writing and a minor in History, has wished to intern at WKU Libraries and the Kentucky Museum since she started her Climb at WKU. During the 2023 spring semester, Temple reached her goal and started her internship journey at the Special Collections Library. 

Providing hands-on applied learning, the internship opportunity at the Special Collection Library offers a professional learning experience that highlights practical work related to the student's field of study or career interest. "I get to handle artifacts and write about them, and this combines my two passions of writing and history," said Temple. Through the internship, she has worked on multiple notable projects. One of them is examining Victorian valentines. These cultural treasures give a window into the culture of the Victorian time period 1837 to 1901 through verse and their holographic sentiments. Temple also curated an online exhibit HERSTORY, a celebration of women of Kentucky and an inspiration to women of today and tomorrow to reach for greater heights.   

Nancy Richey, Reading Room Coordinator and Visual Resources Librarian for the Department of Library Special Collections, explains that the goal of the internship is to learn through hands-on experience, seeing, touching, and saving history for others. The internships assist in student success initiatives by aiding in skill development, knowledge acquisition, personal and professional development, and the expansion of oral and written communications skills. "We also see that the interns increase skills to understand and work materials that highlight diverse backgrounds, nurture leadership and the ability to work on one’s own initiative and to develop abilities to recognize the importance of primary resources and their significance in history," said Ms. Richey. 

For more information on internship opportunities at the library, contact Susann de Vries, Dean of University Libraries: susann.devries@wku.edu.