Explore
Contact Us/Make an Appointment
Students
Choosing a Major/ Career
Presenting Yourself
Getting Experience
Fellowships and Grands
Post-Graduate Positions
Further Education
Employers
Alumni
Families
Faculty and Staff
About Us
Alumni Tiriad Outcomes
Thomas Forsythe
Project Manager
Backstage Library Works
San Diego, California
Even during high school, Thomas Forsythe knew he wanted to be a librarian. He spent his four years at Warren Wilson College on the library crew, working diligently and earning a promotion to crew leader. “I loved my time at Warren Wilson,” he reflects, “and I think the experience I gained was priceless.”
Thomas studied English and computer science with the goal of entering the master’s program in library science at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is currently ranked #1 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Following his graduation in 2003, Thomas spent nine months working in retail, gaining residency in North Carolina, and adjusting to life outside the “Warren Wilson bubble” before being admitted into the Master of Science in Library Science Program at UNC-Chapel Hill. While earning his master’s degree, he worked at the reference desk of North Carolina State University in Raleigh and the Scholarship Library at UNC-Chapel Hill.
After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2006, Thomas was hired by Backstage Library Works, a company which specializes in managing large-scale projects for libraries across America and Europe. These projects can include anything from creating an online card catalog to digitizing (creating digital picture files of) a rare collection. Thomas was first placed on a team assigned to changing the catalog at Duke University from the Dewey Decimal System to the Library of Congress Classification, but after a few months he was promoted and given his own project—a similar cataloging job at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU).
After completing the ECSU project, Thomas went on to direct several other projects for Backstage Library Works. He has since been relocated to San Diego and is now the project manager for a large-scale project with the San Diego County Library system, which involves radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging their collection across 32 libraries. RFID tags emit a small radio pulse, which allows computers to check books out for patrons more quickly and allow librarians to inventory their collections more easily.
“I would say my job is rewarding,” Thomas says, “as the pay and benefits are good, and projects like this have their own visual rewards each day, as you see what has been accomplished. That being said, I would one day like to leave the private sector and return to being a public or academic librarian again.”
Thomas moves a lot because of his job, so with each re-location he uses the Internet to locate others who share his interests. He also appreciates his friends from Warren Wilson. “I have lots of good friends across the country,” he says, “ones that I know I can count on for life.” Thomas also likes to explore local trails and read.
Thomas is open to questions about his career and past experiences, and is glad to be a mentor even though he’s across the country. “I can certainly give advice on applying for graduate school and financial aid,” he says, “I also spent time working in the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid at UNC-Chapel Hill.”
Thomas can be contacted by email at stipanow@yahoo.com or tforsythe@bslw.com, or by phone at 818-319-2978.