The Library is pleased to announce that starting on March 7, Jasmine Sykes-Kunk will be the Head of Research Services for the John Hay Library. In this role, Jasmine will lead a researcher-focused operation that fosters positive, informative, affirming, and welcoming interactions for the global community of students, scholars, and the public that visit the Hay. 

Jasmine is currently the Special Collections Reference Associate at New York University where she developed all reading room, reproduction, and reference staffing modules and workflows, reading room policies, and staff training manuals for a newly merged Special Collections department. Her work at NYU Libraries includes finding actionable ways to make the collections and profession more inclusive and equitable. She contributed to the creation of a community agreement statement and a harmful language statement for NYU Special Collections. 

Prior to her current role, she was the ARL/SAA Mosaic Fellow at New York University Libraries where she received a solid grounding in all aspects of archival and special collections work. She has a master’s degree in Library and Information Science with a concentration in Local and Archival Studies from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania.  

Jasmine’s hire will be deeply transformative for the public-facing operations of the Hay.