While most Yale employees head home at 5 p.m., Charli Taylor begins their day at 3 p.m. and doesn’t go home until 11 p.m. Taylor, the library services assistant at the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, manages the space and its contents, welcomes visitors, and enables students to study and thrive.
“I appreciate being part of a place whose mission is teaching and learning.”
Taylor clearly loves their job, as they showcase the building’s architectural aspects, the Eero Saarinen designed “Womb chairs,” and the neat rows of books and periodicals. As Taylor describes the library’s holdings and uses, they speak in low tones and walk lightly across the paprika-colored carpeting trying not to disturb the students who are immersed in their studies.
During the semester, Taylor works Sunday through Thursday, alongside colleague and Team Leader George Stranz. While a quiet, peaceful place to work, the library is a public space, and Taylor and Stranz are responsible for closing and securing it each night. These nighttime procedures include a last call, turning off lights, ensuring the library’s two levels are empty of visitors, and locking up with a key-card swipe.
“We will walk the space at 10:30 and then again at 10:45, letting the students know we are closing soon and begin shutting off non-essential lights. When we know the building is empty, we set the alarm,” said Taylor.
Haas Arts Library
The Haas Arts Library houses 125,000 volumes of exhibition catalogs, print journals and magazines, and rare materials of the former Art and Architecture, Arts of the Book, and Drama library collections, including the Faber Birren Collection of Books on Color, and regularly features rotating exhibits. The current exhibition, Plants on Paper, is on view until November 2, 2025.
Taylor started at the Haas Arts Library in February 2022, after previously working as a temp doing retrievals and processing at the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library in the Historical Sound Recordings section and Sterling Memorial Library. Their interest in library science started while studying at and graduating from Southern Connecticut State University.
In addition to closing duties, Taylor supervises student workers, manages the circulation desk, processes periodicals, and handles materials purchase requests. They also assist students or visitors with questions about using the printing and scanning stations or gaining study room access.
“We are also open to and welcome the public, so we field non-library related questions such as directions to a campus building, museum, or suggestions about local restaurants. Every day is different,” said Taylor.
Having worked daytime hours — which they still do during university breaks and summers — Taylor notes the uniqueness of working off-hours. “The patterns of activity are quite different,” they said. “Students are more focused on studying, especially after dinner, compared to their quick visits during the day to pick up or drop off materials.”
Taylor relishes helping people explore their curiosities, find materials, and discover assets across Yale’s libraries and cultural institutions. They see their role as supporting Yale’s educational mission by providing basic library services and helping expand people’s awareness of learning opportunities and resources across campus.
“I really enjoy working here, and I appreciate being part of a place whose mission is teaching and learning. The Haas Arts Library is especially meaningful because of its special collections of sometimes beautifully made artists’ books and architectural materials, and its position serving three disciplines—art, architecture, and drama—in a relatively intimate setting with specialized librarians on staff.”
