By Anna J. Cook

It has been a season of change in the Massachusetts Historical Society’s library. On February 23rd, the Library Reader Services staff welcomed yet another new member to our ranks: Library Assistant Dan Hinchen.

Dan is not a complete stranger to the MHS, having served as a reference intern with us in 2009. During his tenure he became skilled at responding to long-distance reference queries, and also began to develop subject guides for our collections – a skill we hope to put to good use in the near future as the library revisits some of its online reference resources.

In 2007, Dan was hired to develop an archives program for the Boston Arts Academy and Fenway High School, where he has served as the “lone arranger” for the past four years. There he established the archives’ policies and procedures and supervises the work of student interns and volunteers. In addition to this position, Dan has worked at the Simmons College Beatley Library and completed a cataloging internship at the ProjectSave Armenian Photographic Archives. In 2010 he earned his Master’s in Library Science at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

We are pleased to welcome Dan as part of our staff, and look forward to working with him as part of our team.