Today’s interview is with Patience Tyne, a Junior Fellow in Collection Services Division at the Law Library of Congress.
Describe your background.
I’m the oldest of five children and my permanent home is in Caldwell, New Jersey. My siblings and I were homeschooled through high school. I believe that my homeschooling has allowed me to thoroughly pursue my interests in history, Spanish, music, and architecture. It has also enabled me to understand how these intersected with my Christian faith. My mother’s family hails from Spain, and my abuela (my mom’s mother), who lived with us for ten years, instilled in me a tremendous love for Spanish language and culture.
I will be a college senior this year and am majoring in history and Spanish at Hillsdale College, a small liberal arts school in Hillsdale, Michigan. After college, I hope to receive a Fulbright scholarship and spend a year conducting research in Galicia, Spain before attending law school in 2018.
How would you describe your job to other people?
I am compiling metadata from a collection of colonial Hispanic documents that has been in the Law Library’s possession for 75 years. The metadata contains pertinent information that will increase accessibility for future research.
Why did you want to work at the Library of Congress?
I knew that it would be thrilling to study original historic documents in such a highly academic environment.
What is the most interesting fact you’ve learned about the Law Library of Congress?
I wasn’t aware of the extent of the foreign law collections and legal expertise from around the world that are available at the Law Library of Congress.
What’s something most of your co-workers do not know about you?
In high school I played the bagpipes with a Celtic pipe & drum band and marched in parades, including the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC.