Karla Irwin, currently enrolled in the Master of Science in Library and Information Science program at Drexel University, is the Digital Library intern for the fall semester. Karla has a bachelor’s degree in fashion design with a minor in theater from the University of Delaware. Her home town is Wilmington, Del.

Before enrolling at Drexel, Karla worked as a theater costumer for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. “It was an interesting line of work,” she says, “and I still like to make clothing in my free time… I know how to tailor a suit and make period corsets.” She also worked with the Drexel Historic Costume Collection before coming to Villanova University.

Karla’s change from being a theater costumer to studying library science blended a number of her interests, and she hopes at some point to combine her past career with her new one.

Her hobbies include reading, watching screwball comedies, hiking, camping, quilting and other crafts.

Read Karla’s blog on a lost piece of theater history.

Article and photograph by Alice Bampton