Dr. Nathan Saunders has been named Associate Dean for Special Collections at University Libraries. He succeeds Elizabeth Sudduth, who served in the role since its inception in 2018 and retired on August 31.
Dr. Saunders, who has served since 2023 as Director of the South Caroliniana Library, assumed the Associate Deanship on September 1. He brings to the position broad experience with special collections, having also been Associate Director for Library Specialized Collections at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, curator of manuscripts at the South Caroliniana Library, and a graduate assistant in the South Carolina Political Collections and Moving Images Research Collections.
“Nathan is almost tailor-made for this role,” notes David Banush, Dean of Libraries. “His academic training, prior and recent experience at USC, and his work elsewhere make him uniquely qualified for success at the next level. He has proven himself as a leader and I look forward to working with him more closely going forward.”
Saunders brings to the role “a rare combination of scholarly excellence, administrative expertise, and collaborative spirit,” says history professor and director of USC’s Center for Civil Rights History and Research Dr. Bobby Donaldson. “He has shown outstanding skill in collection development, budget planning, staff leadership, and outreach.”
Saunders himself says his five years as a high school history teacher have given him a useful vantage point on his new role, particularly with respect to connecting with the broader community. “That experience helped me think creatively about outreach, and in particular how we can help K-12 history teachers,” he notes.
Forging those kinds of connections has been a hallmark of Saunders’ tenure at the South Caroliniana Library, which he has been deliberate about presenting as a resource for all South Carolinians. In addition to hiring an outreach librarian who has expanded teaching opportunities with both USC and K-12 students, he has increased the number of general-audience events the library holds to invite engagement with its collections and share the research being done with its support.
Saunders plans to bring the same approach to his new role. “One of my primary goals will be to keep building bonds between Special Collections, the campus, and the state,” he says. “As South Carolina’s flagship university, we have so much to offer the whole state, and we need to take that role seriously.”
In that respect, he says, he is a beneficiary of the work of his predecessor. “Elizabeth has made the Hollings Library into a welcoming research facility,” he says. “And under her leadership, the Libraries has broadened our special collections with resources that are both unique and broadly appealing.”
While he has spent the last two years focusing on the South Caroliniana Library, Saunders brings a deep appreciation for special collections in general to his new role. “I have great respect for Rare Books and our collections there,” he says. “And my first job as a Ph.D. student was working in Moving Image Research Collections, where I developed a love for moving image archives.”
Likewise, Saunders’ role at UNC-Wilmington has, he says, given him a useful vantage point on how special collections fit into the larger context of an academic library: “Serving on the senior leadership team and having conversations about everything from collection building to what kind of furniture we needed was a valuable experience in terms of getting a holistic view of academic libraries.”
Above all, Saunders says, what attracted him to his new role was the opportunity to steward both the collections themselves and the people who build, maintain, and use them. “Special Collections at the University of South Carolina both reflects and contributes to the intellectual life of campus and the state in unique ways,” he says. “When I think about the collections we have and the people who have taught here over the years, you see their work reflected in those collections, and then the collections in turn inform the resources that are available to other faculty as they build their curricula. Once someone builds a collection, other people can access those materials and find innovative and fun ways to use them in their classrooms. The tie between Special Collections and campus instruction is strong. I am honored to play a part in supporting all that Special Collections can do for the university and the state because, as a South Carolina native and a USC alumnus, I have a very strong sense of commitment to the mission of the University of South Carolina.”
About Nathan Saunders
- Hometown: Greenville, SC
- USC Carolina Scholar
- Jacob K. Javits Fellow
- Holds BA, MA, and Ph.D. in History from USC
- Holds MA in teaching from Duke University, MDiv from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, MLIS from East Carolina University
- Previously served as Director of South Caroliniana Library (2023-2025), Associate Director for Library Specialized Collections, UNC-Wilmington (2017-2023), Head of Collections/Curator of Manuscripts, South Caroliniana Library (2014-2017)
About University Libraries Special Collections
Encompassing the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, the South Caroliniana Library, and the Moving Image Research Collections, Special Collections at the University of South Carolina Libraries offers a vast array of rare and unique materials, including the world’s largest collection of materials related to the history, politics and culture of South Carolina; thousands of hours of culturally and historically significant film; and the papers of notable 20th-century authors ranging from F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway to Dashiell Hammett and Elmore Leonard, which attract scholars from around the world.