Faculty Profile: Barb Sedlock, Lead Librarian, and Coordinator of Metadata & Archives

Written by: Amber Baldwin

If you have ever been to the Pilgrim Library, there is probably a good chance you have seen the lead librarian and coordinator of metadata and archives, Barb Sedlock.

Sedlock has been working for Defiance College for almost 40 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Hiram College and a master’s degree in library science from the University of Kentucky. Barb states that, for the most part, she has always wanted to be a librarian.

“I saw how my older sister was struggling after high school to figure out what she wanted to do in life, and I didn’t want to struggle like that. Since I loved to read, I started working in the high school library and decided that was the job I wanted for life. But being a librarian doesn’t mean you sit around and read all day; I spend a lot of time working on the computer.”

What drew Barb to Defiance College was the small school atmosphere. Sedlock said, “When I was about to get my library degree, I looked at the want ads for small college jobs (no online job resources in those days) and found an ad for DC, which I’d never heard of even though I was from Ohio. I figured it would be close enough to my family in Warren to go home and visit them on weekends.”

Outside of work, Barb Sedlock writes articles and book reviews for the Historical Novel Society. Barb enjoys most historical things and loves going to museums. She also likes to go antiquing and has a small Victorian and Edwardian tile collection.

Another interest of Sedlock is the arts. She is a big fan of live theater performances and plays bassoon for different community music groups.

“I’ve enjoyed playing bassoon in the community band for about 35 years, playing for some of the Fort Defiance Players’ pit orchestras for their musicals, and DC’s annual “Messiah” performance since 1996.”

Barb Sedlock is quite an interesting person, even if she will try to claim she is not.