{"id":10581,"date":"2026-11-03T12:41:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T17:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastasianlib.org\/newsite\/?p=10581"},"modified":"2026-11-03T13:02:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T18:02:46","slug":"featured-member-charlotte-cotter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastasianlib.org\/newsite\/featured-member-charlotte-cotter\/","title":{"rendered":"Featured member: Charlotte Cotter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlotte Cotter (<\/span>\u4e25\u6c5f\u96ef) is the <\/span>Interim Librarian at the Fairbank Center Collection in the H.C. Fung Library, Harvard University (since March 2026)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/a>
Charlotte Cotter smiles for a portrait at her home in Newton, Mass. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Charlotte was adopted from China in 1995.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do you enjoy most about your career in East Asian Librarianship?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I am an early career librarian, navigating the transition between paraprofessional and professional librarianship. Thus far, I have enjoyed immersing myself in the world of librarianship, especially China studies librarianship, and learning from and alongside others. I am eagerly awaiting my next chapter to develop my own professional achievements and identity as a China studies librarian.<\/p>\n

I came to the library field somewhat by accident, through the field of China studies. I graduated with a degree in East Asian studies concentrating on modern China at Yale in 2018, and afterwards, I was working as a research assistant for my mentor, Professor Denise Ho. During this time, I was connected with founding and long-time Fairbank Center Librarian, Nancy Hearst, and it just so happened that her long-time assistant was retiring that fall. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time! At the time, I did not have any experience with libraries or library science – it was quite a shock seeing a MARC record on the first day on the job. I am grateful that Nancy and her assistant Ying-Ming Lee took a chance on me. While I was working part-time at the Fairbank Center Collection, I also started a part-time position at the public library in my hometown of Newton, MA. I found I really enjoyed library work. Colleagues from both of my jobs encouraged me to pursue an MLIS if I wanted to move forward with a career in librarianship. I applied for my MLIS and started my program at Simmons University in the fall of 2020.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve benefitted from mentorship and guidance from many individuals already, in particular from Librarian Nancy Hearst, and as I move into new chapters of my career, I hope to be fortunate enough not only to continue receiving mentorship but to provide it as well. I know I have so much to learn, and I am eager to take up the challenge. In particular, I am very new to the community of East Asia Librarians, and I look forward to learning from and alongside all of you.<\/p>\n

What has been the biggest surprise you\u2019ve encountered since becoming a China Studies Librarian?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My biggest surprise has been how much I enjoy working directly with faculty and students.<\/p>\n

When I first started at the Fairbank Center Collection, I began in a very basic, behind-the-scenes role, undertaking routine copy-cataloging, material processing, and shelving tasks. Gradually, as I began to become more familiar with China studies, library systems and platforms, the collection, and the work of librarianship, I moved into more patron-facing work. Gaining the knowledge and confidence to do more patron-facing work with faculty and students is something that I\u2019ve been working on over the years (although I still sometimes struggle with the confidence piece!) I hope to work on increasing channels of communication, feedback, and evaluation between the Collection and its users. The exceptional faculty and students I work with have been very supportive, and it has been very rewarding to see faculty and students using Collection materials in new and creative ways. I very much look forward to deepening and expanding this work, especially in the area of integrating the use of Collection materials into courses.<\/p>\n

What was the moment when you realized librarianship was the right career path for you?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I was fortunate enough to be a recipient of the ALA Spectrum Scholarship in 2020-2021. In 2022, the Spectrum Scholarship held its first in-person Leadership Institute since the start of the pandemic alongside the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC. Attending ALA and the Spectrum Scholarship Leadership Institute was the first time I was in the presence of that many Librarians all at once. Even though I was still an MLIS student at the time, I felt welcomed into the community by so many incredible mentors and Librarians of Color in the field. This was the first time I remember thinking, \u201cwow, I could actually see myself doing this one day!\u201d<\/p>\n

What role do you see East Asian libraries playing in fostering cross-cultural understanding?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

While I cannot say my personal identity as a transracial and transnational Chinese adult adoptee is not connected to my interest in China studies, I tend to keep my professional identity in China studies librarianship largely separate from my personal identity.<\/p>\n

That said, on a values level, I think having an identity that has long left me feeling caught between two countries, cultures, nations, and languages has instilled in me a deep commitment to the kind of cross-cultural, cross-national study, knowledge exchange, and nuanced understanding that is fostered by China studies in the United States. In today\u2019s atmosphere of heightened political tension, I believe sustained scholarly exchange and collaboration between the United States and China, as well as between the United States and the rest of the world, in the field of China studies is more important than ever.\u00a0 Libraries play important role in fostering and furthering these sorts of exchanges as a physical and symbolic locus of international and cross-cultural exchange, a place where scholars not only from East Asia and North America but also from all around the world converge to find information and engage in the scholarly \u201cconversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back, what advice would you give yourself when you were first entering the profession?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It is not so much advice as something that I hope the profession can give more attention to.<\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to be able to do is to persist in part-time, assistantship, and internship roles while pursuing my MLIS and seeking avenues to bridge the gap between paraprofessional and professional librarianship. I\u2019m grateful to the support of my family, the ALA Spectrum Scholarship, and the tuition reimbursement program at Harvard that allowed me to do so, but I know that not everyone has this privilege. I think this is a hard-to-bridge gap that should be talked about more in the profession. Therefore, I want to call upon the profession to create better pathways to gain experience and mentorship and more sustainable avenues for MLIS students to bridge this gap.<\/p>\n

In your view, what are the most significant challenges confronting East Asian collections?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For contemporary China studies at least, we have entered a period in which the political climate restricts access to information and information resources, particularly about sensitive subjects, and constrains opportunities for scholarly exchange. While not ideal, this situation is not unprecedented. Over the course of its history, access to information and research resources in China has varied, and many senior scholars in the West recall earlier periods when direct access to the country was considerably more restricted.<\/p>\n

The approaches we take on the collection of materials on contemporary China in many ways depends on what happens politically in China, and while there are scenarios that are more plausible than others, ultimately, no one knows what will happen in the future. Similar things can be said for the immense changes in technology we are seeing with the rise of AI. We are on the brink of changes to information and information technology that promise to be as monumental as the rise of the internet. These uncertainties certainly pose challenges, but also opportunities for subject libraries to cement and demonstrate their critical role in furthering institutional research, teaching, and learning in this atmosphere of increased financial pressure for Universities.<\/p>\n

Tell us some fun facts about you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My comfort food is definitely mac and cheese. Although, I am also partial to a good tomatoes and eggs with rice \uff08\u897f\u7ea2\u67ff\u7092\u9e21\u86cb).<\/p>\n

I like to unwind after a long day by having a cup of herbal tea and spending time with my 2-year old Chinese rural village rescue dog, Xiao Tupiao (\u5c0f\u79c3\u74e2, Little Baldy \u201cLB\u201d).<\/p>\n

\"xiao<\/a>
Charlotte’s dog: Little Baldy (Xiao Tupiao)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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