Austin Waters Combines Scholarship, Service and a Love of Community at UB

by DENISE WOLFE

If you’ve met Austin Waters, you know how much she enjoys connecting with students and colleagues. That passion for learning and community has guided her through an interesting mix of studies, jobs and places she’s called home.

She started out studying literature and philosophy at SUNY Purchase, then headed back to her home state of Arkansas to earn a law degree at the William H. Bowen School of Law. But New York kept calling her back. She returned for her master’s in library and information science at Syracuse University, where she joined the Information Literacy Scholars Program—an experience that taught her how much she loved working with students. 

After working as a reference librarian at Touro Law Center, Waters came to UB three years ago. “I was attracted first by the position because of how student-focused it was,” she said.

At the Charles B. Sears Law Library, she’s been the student services librarian, which she describes as “basically anything and everything the students need.” That means everything from planning events with law student groups to running stress-less activities, teaching semester-long courses, gathering student feedback and pitching in at the reference desk. 

Now, she’s excited to step into a new role as foreign and international law librarian, following the retirement of Nina Cascio. During the transition, Waters expects to take on research-focused projects and could work with students preparing for the Jessup International Moot Court competition. The position also has the potential to include opportunities such as teaching an upper-level international legal research course, similar to those Cascio taught, or developing new ways for students to strengthen their international research skills. 

“I’ll definitely also be participating more in the international law librarian associations,” she said. 

While her focus will shift, her commitment to students remains at the center of her work.

Beyond UB, Waters is chairing a national committee—the American Association of Law Libraries’ Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section Committee on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, known as the AALL ALL-SIS JEDI Committee. The group has created resource guides and offered interview skills workshops, and she looks forward to more opportunities to support librarians across the country. 

When asked what she enjoys most about her job, her answer is quick: the people. She loves collaborating with her colleagues and finds UB’s law students especially inspiring. “They’re always supporting each other and their community,” she says.

Outside of work, Waters has some unique hobbies. She’s a competitive figure skater—she started as an adult—and is currently training for her next test. She also writes fiction, especially horror and sci-fi. And if you’re looking for an excellent horror movie, Waters has you covered. She is such a horror movie fan that she keeps a spreadsheet ranking them all. (She admits she’s a tough grader!) 

After growing up in Arkansas, spending time in St. Croix, and living in Albany, Long Island and Syracuse, she’s happily settled in Buffalo. She even bought a house here. “It’s really a great place to live,” she says.