Reading Room Assistant x 130
aeakins@librarycompany.org
(they/them)

Wynn Eakins is a community archivist and librarian who serves as the Reading Room Assistant at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Before joining the Library Company in 2020, Wynn graduated with a B.F.A. in African American Studies from Wesleyan University and worked with special collections at Yale’s Program for Recovery & Community Health, the John J. Wilcox LGBT Archives, and the FLP’s Children’s Literature Research Collection.

Wynn completed a post-baccalaureate certificate in Community Based Librarianship at Drexel University in 2021, where they identified a significant accessibility gap in regional educational circles concerning early-American Black history and culture. In response, Wynn sought to close the gap by connecting diverse communities of memory workers, educators, artists, and more with the Library Company’s rich digital and physical resources. They also pursued further education in this area by taking course on Black Bibliography through Rare Book School at Princeton University and the Schomburg Center in 2023. Through their engagement with organizations such as the ALA, RBMS, the Caribbean Studies Association, Paul Robeson House Museum, Scribe Video Center, and more, Wynn has become an ambassador for the institution’s collections in African, African American, and Caribbean history and culture.