Understanding the Undead

Bobbi Earp has a passion for all things vampire

Bobbi Earp, circulation desk supervisor for access and delivery services at Perkins Library, poses with pieces from her collection of vampire memorabilia, including books and dolls. Photo by Bryan Roth.
Bobbi Earp, circulation desk supervisor for access and delivery services at Perkins Library, poses with pieces from her collection of vampire memorabilia, including books and dolls. Photo by Bryan Roth.

 

Name: Bobbi EarpPosition: Circulation desk supervisor for access and delivery services, Perkins LibraryYears at Duke: 39

What I do at Duke: My main job is overseeing the circulation desk to make sure everything runs smoothly. We'll help answer questions about the circulation of books, where to find things in the library or where to find people. We get a lot of questions because it's the first desk people see when they come into Perkins.

If I had $5 million, I would: First thing I'd do is donate at least $1 million to Duke's libraries. Whenever the library gets donations, we try to use them for the benefit for everyone who comes here. Having been in the library and feeling like I've grown up here, I'd want to give something back. I'm not sure what I'd do with the rest. The only other thing I'd do for sure is go out and buy a large acreage of land and make sure lots of lost, needy or abandoned animals have a good home. I'm an animal lover. I would call it Animal Haven.

My first ever job: Working here in the library. I worked in the library doing key punch in 1973. It was an old kind of data system. I honestly don't remember what it was used for. It was another of the cataloging systems that have come and gone over time, but we have computers now.

My dream job: It's always been to open a bed and breakfast. My husband and I both love bed and breakfast locations. Years ago after my husband got out of the military, we had talked about opening one, but never did. I'd love to open one near the sea.

If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: My jewelry. I go for jewelry that's custom made because I like the fact that people put their own personalities into what they make.

When I'm not at work, I like to: Enjoy a collection of vampire memorabilia and history. When I was very young, I was really enthralled with Universal Studio monsters like Frankenstein, Wolf Man and Dracula. For some reason Dracula stayed with me. I always liked watching Dracula movies because they seemed to scare me more than other monsters. When I was in high school, I had to write a paper and discovered that there was a real "Dracula" - Prince Vlad Tepes the Impaler. I've just kept that fascination with me all my life. I even went as far as to have a vampire tattooed on the back of my neck with "Nosferatu," the name of the famous movie. I also have NOSFERA2 as my license plate on my car. I love watching the look on peoples' faces as they try to figure it out.

Something most people don't know about me: When I was in the ninth grade getting ready for career day, it was my desire and plan to be a mortician. There's good money in dead people.

A Movie I like: An old Christopher Lee movie called Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. It's the sequel to the Horror of Dracula and the only movie that still gives me the creeps. There's just something about the way it was made. I don't remember Christopher Lee uttering about two words throughout that whole movie.
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