By Aaron Reincheld
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| Shepard Black |
Ohio University archivist Shepard Black loves his job. So much so that when he retires at the end of this month after 25 years, he still plans on coming into the office occasionally and helping out however he can."I do believe that I can still be useful," Black said.
Already semi-retired - he worked two days per week during the school year - Black said the most rewarding aspect of his time with the University has been his interaction with students leading classes on how to use the archives and helping them with projects.
"The fact they've shown interest in what they have seen is reward enough," Black said. "They're all promise."
During Black's tenure, he has seen the number of employees in the archives department grow substantially as well as the special collections. Black's focus has been with the rare book collections, which has expanded to more than 30 specific collections. The archivists used to get what they could through donations and are now actively seeking specific books they want to add.
Black came to Athens in 1958 to pursue a graduate degree in comparative arts and started working at Logan's Bookstore, now known as Follett's University Bookstore.
"I think it's a wonderful place to live, we're a remarkable small town," he said. "It's the last place in the world I expected to end up."
Black stayed at Logan's for 15 years working as a bookseller before earning a master of library science degree. At the encouragement of friends and family, Black looked to Alden for employment because of his love of books.
Now even after his retirement he expects to continue to be surrounded by books, planning on spending much of his time reading and writing.
"I don't think I'll lack of things to do," Black said with a laugh.
He also plans to spend more time with his wife, Peg, also a recent retiree from the University after 30 years, his two children and their children.
Black concluded, "I've been among the luckiest of men."
Aaron Reincheld is a graduate student writer with University Communications and Marketing.
