Curtis Orio: From New Haven to Nanning

In the spring of 2007 a new chapter—or, rather, a tiny but meaningful paragraph—was added to the centuries-old book of the Yale-China relationship. It was written by Curtis Orio, a former staff member of Sterling Memorial Library’s Acquisitions Department who resigned from his position as Manager, Serials Support Team, to pursue a teaching career in Nanning, a city in southern China.

The decision, Curtis explained to an attentive audience of Library colleagues on April 30 th, was hard to make, especially since it implied total relocation to a far-away country and a different culture, not just changing jobs or moving to another city or state. However, after careful evaluation of the pros and cons of such a decision, which many of us will consider brave (and a few even “exotic”), he made it … and at the end of May will make the great leap forward.

A native of New Haven, Curtis was a Special Education teacher before coming to Yale. He worked for a number of years at the United Cerebral Palsy Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut, teaching severely handicapped students of all age groups, but primarily individuals over the age of 21. He eventually left the field of Special Education and in 1985 came to Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library, where he worked for the next twenty-two years in the Serials Units (moving with it from the Catalog Department to Acquisitions in 1989). He started as a Grade B Clerical and Technical worker and gradually progressed to grades C and D. In November of 2005, he was promoted to the title of Supervisor, Serials Support Team, a position he held until his resignation in April 2007.

At Yale, Curtis had the opportunity to experience first hand the significant changes that occurred over the past twenty years in the library field. He began in the “paper days” of cardex, card catalog, and card filing, and progressed through Orbis 1 (NOTIS) and Orbis 2 (Voyager), acquiring along the way the professional experience and historical perspective to fully appreciate the library workflows.  As time goes on, there are less and less individuals who have this historical experience and perspective, and Curtis is proud to be one of them.

No less meaningful is going to be Curtis' perspective on China, especially after a few months—let alone years—of residence in Nanning. The capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, about 100 miles from the border with Vietnam, Nanning is a thriving and fast growing city of 1.5 million people representing thirty-six ethnic groups. It is also the home of several institutions of higher educations—Guangxi University, Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University, Guangxi Teachers College, Guangxi Arts College, and Guangxi College of Finance and Economics, etc.—and it is initially at this field that Curtis is going to look for a job and an opportunity to revamp his teaching career.

His preference is to teach college age students or older individuals, while young children would be a last resort, but he is also receptive to the idea of private tutoring. Although aware that relocating without having a job is a bit risky, he has been informed by numerous people that finding a job in Nanning is very easy, as apparently there are more openings than people willing to fill them. For that reason, he prefers to be selective and to proceed slowly, rather than jumping at the unknown.  Quitting his job at Yale and relocating to China was a big enough move!

We wish him good luck with his move, his new life and teaching career!