By JACKSON MURPHY
Staff Writer

Three large boxes were stacked on top of each other in front of Peter Osterhoudt’s door. When he soon opened it, Osterhoudt was pleased to see that his delivery… of tissues… had arrived. “They’re not all for me,” he said. Working with students on a daily basis makes tissues, and Purell, a staple in his office.

This April, Osterhoudt, 59, celebrates 20 years at The College of Saint Rose. Two decades is a long period of time at the same location, especially for someone whose official title is nearly as long – Collection Management & Systems Librarian/Library Faculty.

First and foremost, Osterhoudt is said librarian at the Neil Hellman Library. He worked part-time at several different places before going through the search process and joining the Saint Rose faculty in April 1999. He declares himself “a lifelong library man.” He’s always been interested in the various aspects of the library, yet the idea of actually becoming a librarian “didn’t come to me until later in life.”

Osterhoudt was a sales representative for the area branch of HVAC. He sold refrigerators to installers of heating and air conditioning. Osterhoudt “learned to fix things myself” from years of working with his father. When it comes to just about any challenge, “I love starting at the beginning of something and going through the problem-solving part.”

But he needed a change, and libraries were calling his name. He went to the University at Albany and graduated with a Master’s in Library Science in 1998. A year later, he began his duties at Saint Rose. At the time, libraries were in the midst of a technological revolution. “The Internet was a new thing. When I started, there were six or eight computers… and no online databases.”

The transition was quickly underway. “Within a couple years, databases of journals were put online – and there are now over 100,000.”

“When a database doesn’t work or our internal systems go down, it’s Pete who is the first one on the phone with the companies trying to get things fixed for [students] as quickly as possible,” Andrew Urbanek, library director, wrote via email. Urbanek was in a few classes with Osterhoudt at UAlbany in the late ’90s. “Pete… brings a good sense of what’s a crisis and what isn’t, and is someone I can bounce ideas off of.”

Of course, tech more advancements are being implemented every day. And students are taking advantage of them. “What used to take weeks can now be done in a few hours,” Osterhoudt said. “It was a lot more work to get resources for a paper. We’d have to talk with other libraries.”

But even with the temptation for digital, Osterhoudt believes that isn’t what students ultimately gravitate toward. “There have been many surveys conducted over the years. And every time, if given a choice, students want a print book – not an e-book.” Osterhoudt has “expected [the survey results] to change before”, but he points toward the tangibility and familiarity of a book.

Statistics that have changed over time: the kinds of people he interacts with every day. “There’s a greater diversity than there was 20 years ago,” he said. “It used to be 95 percent women – and 90 percent white women. It’s way different now, and I like that very much.”

Osterhoudt also teaches between ten and 20 librarian instruction classes a year. And he even advises students in the Communications department on which classes they should take while enrolled at Saint Rose. “It’s one of my favorite parts of the job,” he said. “I love seeing their progression.”

But Osterhoudt’s office is in the Neil Hellman Library on Western Avenue, and the Communications building is tucked away on the other side of Madison Avenue. The two sides are completely different, separate worlds. Osterhoudt acts as a bridge to somehow bring these two together. “When I got here, the librarians advised undeclared students, for at most, two years. But the Academic Advisement Office eventually changed that. They then received undeclared students.”

A little more than a decade ago, Osterhoudt was approached by the “very enthusiastic” COM department to see if he would want to come on board. “There were so many students per professor,” Osterhoudt reflected. “They asked me if I wouldn’t mind learning the requirements.”

Osterhoudt gives his advisees an affirmative, “tell it like it is” take on anything Saint Rose. “I might as well tell you honestly,” he said. But there (honestly) isn’t a whole lot he has to complain about.

Saint Rose’s Associate Vice President for IT & Facilities, John Ellis, has always been impressed with Osterhoudt’s attitude. “I watch him interact with students and employees, and he is always patient, helpful, knowledgeable and courteous,” Ellis wrote via email. “He never seems to get upset or annoyed.”

Osterhoudt believes that “the reason we’re here is the students. 99 percent have been worthwhile to work with. I have friends from SUNY Albany who come visit, and they tell me, ‘Your kids are so nice.'”

In fact, if Osterhoudt really thinks about it, not much has changed in his 20 years at the college. “Saint Rose is still a pretty tight-knit community. The kids have had the same gripes about parking and the cafeteria food since Plato’s time.”

He thinks he’ll stay for another five years, with travel on the brain. “When I retire, I’ll be going to some international destinations.” His wife and best friend are Italian, and Osterhoudt is “attracted to foods and people in Asia and Africa.”

These passions are why Osterhoudt continues to recommend the Study Abroad program to his advisees, who have the opportunity to get their education anywhere in the world. “Every student comes back a different person – and never for the worse.”