photo by Cenn Hall
When it’s 3 a.m. and it’s time to cram for an exam or finish up a paper at the Cullom-Davis Library, no one is ever alone, even if no one else is in sight – because no matter what, there are always the late night librarians to keep you company.
Chrystal Pehm, Bradley ’08 alumna, is a night access services coordinator who has worked at the Cullom-Davis Library since 2016. While her job mostly consists of walking the floors, checking out markers and rooms for students and emptying out the drop box of books, she said she has gained a good sense of who the usual late night students include and their drive for academics.
“With some of the things they write [on whiteboards], I’m always impressed by their work,” Pehm said. “Everyone seems to be holding each other up.”
Though she was a student worker in the library starting in 2005, Pehm said she first began working as a night access coordinator in the library when she was searching for jobs. Erich Gilbert, an access services coordinator at Bradley, informed her of the job opening.
“This one just kind of jumped out at me,” Pehm said.
Now, she said she enjoys her job at Bradley and working alongside her coworkers.
“When we see each other, we just pick up from when we last saw each other,” Pehm said.
For example, Pehm often works alongside Allison Hunter-Rosene, a senior elementary education and music performance double major who has been a student worker at Bradley’s library since 2015.
“I love working with Chrystal … She not only tends to the needs of all the students that are here studying, but also looks after the student workers,” Hunter-Rosene said. “She cares for all the students, even though she’s here till 4 [a.m.]. It doesn’t dwindle because she’s tired or anything.”
One way that Pehm survives the late nights is by reading books, which she says she has a huge collection of.
“Lit on Fire [712 W. Main St.] is one of my favorite used book stores,” Pehm said. “Unfortunately, the owner knows me way too well. Sometimes she knows what’s right, sometimes it’s, ‘I’ve already got it.’”
Additionally, most Bradley students, Pehm said she manages her 8:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift without a trip to Stacks café or copious amounts of caffeine. Her coworkers have even come up with a few loving nicknames for the night owl.
“[They call me] ‘Daywalker,’ because I’m a vampire who can survive in the daylight, too, or ‘witch,’ because I must have to have some sort of powers to survive in the daylight,” Pehm said.
