Catch up with a Libraries student scholarship awardee: Samuel Brown

The NC State University Libraries awards a number of part-scholarships every year to our outstanding Libraries student workers as part of our efforts to support student success and affordability. Since 2018, we've awarded 35 scholarships of varying amounts totaling $119,000. For the academic year 2022–23, philanthropic support for the Libraries Student Scholarship Fund has allowed us to support 10 of our talented students with scholarships worth $36,000 in total. This profile is one in a series that lets our scholarship winners tell their stories.

Samuel Brown is completing his Computer Science BA this semester with a minor in Mathematics, and he works in the Natural Resources Library. An Eagle Scout, his lifelong interest in computer programming has led to an aspiration to work for big software companies like Microsoft, Google, or Apple. But through his work at the Libraries, that might be changing.

What are your hobbies and activities outside of school?
Outside of school I spend a lot of my time camping and rafting in the mountains of Western North Carolina. During the summer, I also work on the staff at a Boy Scout summer camp in Canton, NC.

Why did you choose to work at the Libraries? What roles have libraries played in your life in general?
I've always enjoyed being able to walk through a library and find a new book to read that I wouldn’t have found otherwise. I remember finding my favorite book series, Margaret Peterson Haddix's The Missing, because I was flipping through the H section of the library at my middle school. I found out that the Natural Resources Library was hiring through a friend of mine who worked there, and I've loved working there ever since.

What have you been most looking forward to this school year?
I'm most looking forward to spending more time in the library.

What do you hope to do after you graduate?
Originally, I wanted to go into some form of software development job after college, but now I'm considering pursuing a career in libraries and maybe even a master's in library science. 

What have you learned through your work at the Libraries? How does your work at the Libraries support or lead into your post-graduation plans?
After working at the Libraries, I am strongly considering a masters in Library and Information Sciences. 

How will a Libraries scholarship help you on your educational/personal path? Is there anything specific that the scholarship will enable or help you to do?
The scholarship will help me save some money in paying for college that might be able to go towards graduate school in the future.

Learn more about the Libraries Student Scholarship Endowment here, and donate directly here.