Meet A Member: Barry Trott

Special Projects Director
Williamsburg Regional Library

When did you first know that you wanted to be a librarian?
I came to librarianship later in life, after working as a professional musician for 12 years. My work researching and performing 18th century music led to me spending a lot of time in libraries and special collections, and as I thought about doing something new, a suggestion from a librarian that I consider library school seemed a fine idea.

What was your first library job?
Reference librarian at the Williamsburg Regional Library.

What is your favorite part of librarianship?
Making connections. I think that all of librarianship is about making connections between the information and materials that we have and what our users need.

What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you on the job?
There have been lots of interesting things, as users can always surprise you. I guess one of the most surprising was when I was working with a genealogy question and it turned out that the user and I were related and I knew not only the location of the cemetery she was asking about but knew what the monuments there looked liked and where in the cemetery they were located.

If you could have anything in the universe installed in your office for your personal use, what would it be?
A Rembrandt etching.

What is something your colleagues would be surprised to know about you?
I have had a composition of mine written from mandolin orchestra performed by the Austin (TX) Mandolin Ensemble.


Interview conducted by Gregg Grunow.

Want to be featured on Meet A Member? E-mail Gregg at [email protected].
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