ANNETTE VADNAIS ’99 BRINGS FUN AND COLOR TO THE LIBRARIES
WORDS BY ARI JEWEL, PHOTOS BY JOHN SOLEM
The second floor of the W. E. B. Du Bois Library is a true choose-your-own-adventure. Take a left, and you’re in a quiet study room. Take a right, and you’re in RECESS. This aptly named space is home to foosball tables, ring toss, coloring books, and plenty of space to spread out with friends. It’s the perfect refuge for a stressed-out college student.
RECESS—which stands for Recharge, Engage, Connect, Energize, Support, and Succeed—also eagerly hosts events from a librarian-run international snack taste test to a student-led American Sign Language club.
RECESS is the brainchild of Annette Vadnais ’99, the Student Success & Wellbeing Librarian. Her office is a converted supply closet behind a pillar—her idea, not her boss’s—along one of the walls in RECESS. If Vadnais were a different kind of person, it might seem like she elected to be in this student space to patrol it in a schoolmarm kind of way. But that’s not at all her vibe. She just wants to be part of the fun!
Vadnais might be better known as the “Purple Hair Librarian,” a moniker she took up to make her more memorable—and therefore accessible—to students. We sat down with her to chat about her journey to UMass, her role in students’ lives, and, of course, her purple hair.
How did you get to UMass?
I’m first gen and low-income, and I grew up in Ware. I was never thinking of college. My father had only completed the seventh grade. I wasn’t very academically minded, and I graduated and wasn’t planning on going to college at all. So that was the plan, and then, when I was working after graduating high school, I met this girl, Beth, who was going to Mount Holyoke. She was like, “You should apply to UMass!” and I was like, “Eh, okay!”
She’d lure me to her house to go swimming, and then she’d be like, “Let’s work on your essay!”
I was like, “I’ll try this college thing for four years and see what it’s like!”
When did you start working at the Libraries?
I was walking by the library in February 1995 and saw a sign that said, “We’re hiring.” So I got a job here, and I just loved helping people. I graduated in 1999, got a job in admissions, then quickly got a job here as a building monitor. Then I ran the info desk, and then I went back for my library science degree.
Luckily it worked out well, and I do love working at my alma mater. I love the students, and working with them, and creating a space for them, and supporting their well-being.
How did the purple hair happen?
Originally, I was going to dye my hair gray. But my lovely husband pointed out the fact that that wouldn’t look good on me, as I could almost already have the gray—it wouldn’t be like the young people.
And so my hairdresser—I call her my “hairapist”—did silver on the back and purple on top. But then the silver always came out, so I was like, “Just do it purple.”
Students sometimes ask me if I feel trapped by this choice. I don’t really care. The fact that I don’t have to think about what to do with my hair is fine. And the purple works, and having a normal hair color would be weird now.
Are there things you, as a first-gen student, didn’t have that you’re able to provide for students now? How do you see yourself in the students?
I worked way harder than I had to as a student because I didn’t think I could go to the reference librarians, or I didn’t want to. Luckily, I worked here, in current periodicals. So I knew how to search for articles because of my job.
I think it’s an intimidating building! I didn’t come in here my first year—I was like, “Not today, Lord!” I just want to get people in to the events on the second floor. We get them in, they get comfortable, and then they feel more comfortable reaching out.
People usually ask librarians, “What’s your favorite book?” I don’t have a favorite book. I do read! I think reading is amazing—but I just love helping people. My role is letting students know about the services and resources.
Are there any specific interactions you’ve had with students that have really stuck with you?
When we first started the outreach series there was a commuter student from West Springfield who would always come. She came to events so much that she wouldn’t even register sometimes, and she’d just help us with them.
When she graduated, she asked, “Can I come even after I graduate?” I said, “I don’t card. I’m Oprah: You get a craft! You get a craft!”
And then she reached out to me recently because she wanted me to write a recommendation for her. She’s applying to Simmons and is going to become a school librarian!
I don’t think they’re all going to become librarians per se. I just want them to use the Libraries more and know that they’re not bothering us.
Where do you get the passion for your work?
I like to be the campus aunt. Need someone to cheer for you because something happened, and you want to celebrate? Come here! Is your roommate being annoying? I’ve been there.
The new students are just friends. They let me be cool and hang out with them, so it’s like I have a new group of friends every year.
Visit library.umass.edu/recess to learn more and to see upcoming events. Email Annette Vadnais at purplehairlibrarian@umass.edu.
This article was first published in UMass Magazine.