Meet Our Visiting Assistant Librarians

by DENISE WOLFE

Visiting assistant librarians (VALs) play an essential role in the University at Buffalo Libraries, offering fresh ideas, specialized knowledge, and much-needed support for project-based initiatives throughout the libraries. Their contributions help address emerging needs, advance major research and accessibility efforts, and strengthen our commitment to providing reliable, innovative services for the UB community. We’re pleased to introduce our current visiting assistant librarians and highlight the important work they do.

Evelyn Budziejko
Visiting Assistant Librarian
Delivery Services, Special Collections

Evelyn Budziejko provides vital support across Special Collections, ensuring smooth daily operations and improved access to archival materials. In the reading room, she offers consistent onsite coverage for researchers, while also keeping reproduction requests and archival processing moving forward.

Behind the scenes, Budziejko plays a key role in long-term inventory and data-quality initiatives. She has strengthened workflows across departments by aligning Alma records, resolving longstanding transit issues, and improving holdings accuracy—efforts that help maintain reliable access to collections and support future digitization and processing work.

“Our visiting assistant librarian fills an important need,” said Ronald Gaczewski, preservation and access services librarian. “Evelyn has helped move backlog and digitization projects forward and has been instrumental in improving daily operations.”

Budziejko brings an extensive academic and professional background to her role. She holds a BA in history from Arizona State University, where she focused on modern Polish history, resistance movements and Nazi terror. She earned her master’s in library science from Indiana University, specializing in rare books, manuscripts, and the early history of printing. While there, she worked in reference at the Lilly Library and with photographs in the University Archives.

She later pursued a second master’s degree at Bowling Green State University in popular culture, working at the Browne Popular Culture Library with its diverse collections of books, zines, and ephemera. Her thesis was a descriptive bibliography of media tie-in novels. Budziejko has also spent several years as a bookseller specializing in zines, comics, dead media, outsider materials, and the fringes of popular culture.

At UB, she splits her time between Delivery Services—supporting collections management in anticipation of the Lockwood Library renovations—and Special Collections, where she is currently processing a major zine archive.

“I am enjoying learning while working,” Budziejko said. “I approach librarianship with a philosophy of curiosity about all things. Learning something new is a joy, whether it’s a new tool or discovering the interests of the 1990s zinesters and mail artists who sent their work to UB 25 years ago.”

Isaiah Cornfield
Visiting Assistant Librarian
Digital Collections

In April 2026, new updates to the Americans with Disabilities Act will require all digital content to be accessible. For UB Libraries, that meant preparing more than 150,000 pages of PDFs for full accessibility—an enormous undertaking. To help meet this milestone, Isaiah Cornfield joined the Digital Collections team in a one-year visiting appointment focused on accessibility remediation.

Cornfield studied history with a political science minor at Houghton University before earning his master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Maryland. His work centers on PDF remediation: generating OCR, tagging documents, ordering content, and ensuring compliance with new Title II standards.

“I’m new to my career and grateful for the chance to learn from experienced colleagues,” he said. “I enjoy the environment and the opportunity to help make digital collections accessible to all users.”

Digital Collections Projects and Compliance Librarian Stacy Snyder notes that Isaiah’s work is crucial in preparing UB Libraries for this major accessibility shift, ensuring that users of all abilities can access and enjoy the collections.

Allison Nicley
Visiting Assistant Librarian 
Map Collection

Allison Nicley plays a key role in an ambitious effort to digitize UB's map collection, focusing on complete or near-complete sets that are in the public domain or produced by government agencies. Her work will transform print geographic materials into openly accessible digital resources for researchers and the public.

Nicley earned her BA in history from Oakland University in 2023 and completed her Master of Science in Information at the University of Michigan in 2025, where she specialized in managing and sustaining collections. In her role, she scans maps, creates descriptive metadata, and develops a more accessible digital geographic collection.

"Allison is spearheading digitization of our map collection with a focus on complete, or near complete, sets that are in public domain or produced by the government," said Sam Kim, GIS and geospatial librarian. "Her efforts will allow us to convert our valuable print geographic materials into accessible digital resources, making them more readily available to researchers and the general public. Allison's work will also position us for smoother integration with the library's upcoming digital asset management system."

"The thing I most enjoy about working at the University at Buffalo is that my role as a visiting assistant librarian is helping make UB's map collection more accessible through digitization," Nicley said. "I have also greatly enjoyed working with the librarians at UB, who have all been incredibly welcoming and supportive to me as someone who has just started their academic librarian career."

Elaine Knecht
Visiting Assistant Librarian
Charles B. Sears Law Library

Elaine Knecht joined the Law Library in August 2025, providing essential reference support during a period of staffing transitions and expanding instructional needs. Her extensive experience—as a longtime law firm librarian and former director of information resources at Barclay Damon—has made her an invaluable addition to the team.

Knecht is a three-time UB alum, holding a BFA and MFA in vocal performance and an MLS, which she completed in 2005. At the reference desk, she assists law students, faculty, university community members, and the public through in-person, phone, and email inquiries.

“Elaine’s kind and approachable demeanor ensures patrons feel welcome, while her years of experience give her a deep foundation in legal research,” Brian Detweiler, associate director of the Charles B. Sears Law Library. “Her perspective on current trends in legal practice benefits both her colleagues and our students.”

For Knecht, the joy comes from connecting people with the information they need. “Helping folks find what they need is every librarian’s goal,” she said. “The resources of the Law Library make it possible to provide successful assistance almost every time. Working with the librarians, staff, and student assistants makes this a delightful place to be.”

These visiting assistant librarians strengthen our collections, expand access, and enhance services across UB Libraries. Their dedication ensures we continue meeting the evolving needs of our students, faculty, and researchers—and we’re proud to have them on our team.