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2O2 4 – 2O2 5 GU I D E to Y E L LOW S P R I NG S 65 News, the library was quiet. There couldn’t have been more than five people in the whole building. “Nowadays, we don’t have the kind of traffic we used to,” Sanders admitted. “This place used to be full of students working, meeting, doing class projects. The din was really quite something.” Despite the ever-shifting sands at the college, Sanders said he remains committed to preserving the college’s history. As only one of four directors who have overseen Antiochi - ana in its hundred-year-long existence, he feels bound to the stacks by a sense of purpose. “I see myself as having inherited a community,” he said. “I’m carrying on something that this department has done long before I ever got here — and that’s making materials avail- able for people. It’s my purpose to serve scholarship.” As for himself, Sanders’ daily work keeps fanning the flame of a lifelong passion for the past — one that began when he was a 12-year-old holding court in front of a crowd of adults, regaling and amazing them with a litany of facts about a cannon on the USS Constitution in Boston. He said that, in helping his historically curious visitors, his own familiarity and intimacy with the archives has grown. “I learn a lot about our col- lections when I help people find the sources they need,” Sanders said. “Even after 28 years of doing this job, I still haven’t seen everything that’s here.” While Sanders said he doesn’t believe he’s “built community” during his time at Antioch College — recognizing that what was built precedes him by a century — he never- theless sees himself commun- ing and working with several groups of people, both near and far. In addition to learn - ing alongside local residents, scholars and students, he has often facilitated the projects and endeavors of research- ers and archivists far beyond the municipal limits of Yellow Springs. He’s led history tours, given convocation speeches, taught classes and more. And by default, Sanders’ occupation necessitates that he confers with communities that are no longer around. “There are voices that still need to be represented — I call them the retired and the dead,” he said. This conviction — to advo - cate for the mute voices on his 200 shelves — extends past the walls of the college and into the village itself. Sanders said he’s been pleased to see historical names like Wheeling Gaunt and Moncure Conway getting the local recognition they deserve from villagers and visitors alike — especially during times of ebbing change. “This town can really benefit from its history, and history can really benefit from nostalgia,” Sanders said with a wink. “I suppose the hope is that his- tory can cut through that nos- talgia with some actual facts.” He added: “But you know, without nostalgia, I wouldn’t see half the people up here that I do.” ♦ ▲ Also overseen by Sanders in Antioch's Olive Ketter - ing Library are the papers of college's first president, abolistionist and educational visionary, Horace Mann. YS-NEWS_FEST24-AD_001-May24-2024.indd 1 5/24/2024 12:25:48 PM