Paul Cammarata arrived at University of South Carolina Libraries in 1996 more or less by happenstance: his wife, Clo, had decided to pursue a Masters in Library Science at the University of South Carolina, so he left his job as a reference librarian at SUNY Stony Brook and, after a brief stint as a manager at Barnes and Noble, was hired as the coordinator for the classroom on level 3 of Thomas Cooper Library, where U101 library instruction sessions were held.
He didn’t know it at the time, but that job was the start of a long and impactful stint at University Libraries. In almost 30 years at the Libraries, he’s held positions in both reference and collections, including head of collections and collections strategist, as well as served on several committees that have been instrumental in shaping the Libraries’ structure, staffing, and vision.
“For me, it’s always been important to feel like I could contribute not just to my department but to the library as a whole,” he says. “And I was consistently given that opportunity here.”
Altogether, Cammarata’s career as a librarian spans 41 years. After four years working in the campus library as a student at SUNY Geneseo, he earned an MLIS at the University of Kentucky, then took a job at the University of Louisville’s law library. His appreciation for that work led him to consider getting a law degree but he ultimately determined that a career in academic libraries would be more rewarding.
An opening at SUNY Stony Brook for a reference and government documents librarian took him closer to home for five years before Clo, whom he’d met at the law library, and who was working as head of circulation at a public library on Long Island, chose to pursue an MLIS at USC. Upon completing the degree, she took a job in Charlotte and the Cammaratas relocated there. But only A few months later, Paul was offered a temporary position as a reference librarian at Thomas Cooper and initially, he commuted from Charlotte. Then the temporary position became permanent, and he and Clo moved back to Columbia, where they’ve been ever since. She went to work at Richland Library, where she is currently Programs and Events Manager.
Cammarata served as a reference librarian until 2007, when he moved into the collection development department. In 2017, he was named head of collections, and in 2023 he became the libraries’ general collections’ strategist. For much of that time, he also took on significant committee work, including service on a number of search committees for leadership positions in the libraries and on a team that took on a major reorganization project in 2003. He chaired the tenure and promotion committee in a year when six candidates were up for tenure. And he chaired a committee that spent more than a year researching options for the right discovery tool.
“I have really been given the opportunity to have a meaningful impact here,” he says. “And I appreciate that very much.”
In his time at University Libraries, Cammarata has witnessed a lot of change, including significant growth in the student body, from around 21,000 students when he arrived to more than 38,000 today, and, within the libraries, a transition from print to digital materials. “That transition took a while,” he notes, “but we’re really there now with all our users, not just the students, who were the quickest to adapt.”
The libraries have thrived through these changes. Cammarata says, because of a strong culture and shared sense of purpose: “One common theme throughout my time here is that we have always, as a library, done a lot with a little, and that has everything to do with the people who work here. That’s been true the whole time I’ve been here. People figure out how to get things done. We really do what we can to serve our users regardless of the resources. And I have really appreciated working with people like that.”