From Air Force Runways to Library Stacks: Evans Brings a World of Experience to the Libraries Annex

by DENISE WOLFE

Spencer Evans has fueled Air Force One, managed millions of gallons of jet fuel at a British Royal Air Force base, deployed to Turkey during the peak of the ISIS advance in Syria, and earned a master's degree in landscape history in England. These days, he oversees operations at the UB Libraries Annex. It turns out, the Annex was exactly the kind of place his background had been building toward.

Evans, who grew up in Holland, N.Y., a small town in southern Erie County, graduated from SUNY Fredonia in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in history — summa cum laude, and as the top squadron graduate out of 300 in Air Force Basic Training. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 2013, spending his entire six-year contract overseas. Stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Osan Air Base in South Korea, and RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom, he specialized in fuel logistics — a job that ranged from refueling aircraft to managing a quality assurance laboratory responsible for certifying the safety and integrity of more than 8 million gallons of jet fuel. During his service he also earned an associate's degree in logistics management from the Community College of the Air Force. Among his most memorable assignments: refueling Air Force One more than a dozen times during presidential trips to Europe.

After completing his service at the rank of staff sergeant, Evans remained in Cambridge, England, where he earned a master's degree in landscape history from the University of East Anglia — becoming the first American to complete the program. His dissertation examined the development of aviation fuel logistics infrastructure in the United Kingdom during World War II, a fitting capstone to his military career.

Evans joined UB Libraries in early 2023 as Annex Automation and Operations Manager. The Annex, a 21,000-plus-square-foot high-density storage facility located in a freestanding building a short distance from the main campus, houses more than 750,000 books and journals. Many Libraries faculty and staff have never set foot inside. Evans hadn't either — until his job interview. His first glimpse of the towering stacks stopped him in his tracks.

"It reminded me of the scene in Indiana Jones when they put the Grail into that giant warehouse," he said. "I was very interested."

He was hired shortly after. Evans is now quick to demystify what happens inside those stacks. "The goal is to store the highest volume of material in the smallest possible space with an accurate inventory," he said. To do that, staff use Raymond Order Pickers — machines Evans describes as a kind of reverse forklift, where the operator stands on the lifting platform — to navigate eight aisles of 35-foot-high shelving. The vehicles weigh 7,000 pounds and are powered by lead-acid batteries, which is why the Annex operates under a firm mantra: "Safety First, Safety Always."

Evans has taken that responsibility seriously, implementing written safety procedures, blue safety lights to signal vehicle paths, monthly eye-wash station inspections, and a comprehensive order picker certification process requiring both written and hands-on training. His years managing hazardous materials in the Air Force gave him a ready-made foundation for the job. 

The Annex is currently in the middle of one of its most ambitious undertakings: preparing for the Lockwood Library renovation, which is expected to bring up to 700,000 additional items to the Annex. To create room, Evans and his team spent roughly three years rightsizing the collection, wrapping up in October 2025. They immediately pivoted to backfilling — a meticulous process of consolidating partially filled trays across 34,000 total trays in inventory. Meanwhile, construction of four new shelving aisles in the Annex addition is underway and expected to be complete this spring.

For Evans, the work connects back to something personal. As a college student at Fredonia, he spent countless hours in the library. Later, arriving at new military bases where he knew no one, base libraries were often his first stop.

"It gives me a wholesome feeling to be able to help students — many of whom are also far from home — get the books and resources they need," he said. 

Oh, and one more thing: The last time Evans set foot on UB's campus before his job interview was in 2008, when his high school relay team won the state championship in the 4x400 meter race at UB's stadium. They won back-to-back titles.