Who is Gregory Solow?

Full Name: Gregory Lawson Solow

Department and location on campus: Conservatory Library Public Services located in Bibbins Hall.

Job title: Circulation Coordinator of the conservatory library

What does your job entail: I oversee the day-to-day functioning of the conservatory library circulation desk, both in face-to-face interactions and transactions, and through the hiring, training, and supervision of about two dozen student assistants.

How many years at Oberlin? I’ve worked professionally at the conservatory library since 2011, but also worked here as a student since I first arrived as a freshman in 2006. So, 10 or 15 years, depending on how you count it!

How did you get introduced to the library system? I was hired as a student assistant working in the stacks department of the conservatory library in my first few weeks as a first-year. After that, I worked as a student assistant at the conservatory library circulation desk. I did a Winter Term project with the special zine collection over at Mary Church Terrell Main Library, and spent summer working in the preservation lab there as well.

Were you into books and reading when you were growing up? Of course! Mostly science fiction and fantasy, or anything where there’s a touch of the off-beat.

Do you write as well or play any instruments? Not for a long time, unfortunately. I’m a better library person than I was either a writer or musician!

Which author do you think is most overlooked? Can a classic count as overlooked? I hadn’t heard of the Russian author Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin or any of his work before reading “The Golovlyov Family” during my junior year of college, and it’s been repeat-reading ever since.

Do you have any winter reading or listening recommendations? Anything so long as it’s curled up with a dog and a mug of hot tea. 

What resources impress you most at the conservatory library? Our staff! You’ll be hard-pressed to find better people at what they do here.

Favorite movie? Mad Max: Fury Road

Favorite author and/or composer? Gene Wolfe

Hobbies? Writing ponderously long emails to my student workers.

Favorite food? Feve brunch, which I consider its own category.