Cabrini librarian went beyond the call

Corey Salazar, 32, of Strafford, a librarian at Cabrini College, died of brain cancer Friday, Aug. 5, at home.

Mr. Salazar joined the library staff in 2004. He was in charge of periodicals, both print and electronic; was the liaison with the academic departments; supervised undergraduate library assistants; and was the library's facility manager.

In addition to Mr. Salazar's official duties, assistant library director Anne Schwelm said he popped popcorn at library open houses, organized Super Bowl and NCAA basketball pools, drafted the library's fantasy football team, and delivered food and clothing donated by Cabrini students to homeless shelters.

Mr. Salazar found the library a quiet space to study when he was earning his bachelor's degree from Cabrini, Schwelm said. "Corey still holds the record for number of books - 33 - checked out, and not overdue, at one time," she said.

After graduating in 2002, Mr. Salazar spent two years as a volunteer in Philadelphia with City Year, an AmeriCorps program that provides services to public schoolchildren. "I wanted to do my duty as a citizen and better the common good," he wrote in an essay in 2003 in The Inquirer.

At City Year, he tutored students in English, math, and science, helped them with projects and college and job applications, led seminars on leadership and development, and appeared in a play about sexual abuse. "I have learned how important it is to accept and appreciate different standards and values . . . to embrace diversity and become a more well-rounded person," he wrote.

While working as a librarian, Mr. Salazar earned a master's degree in organization leadership from Cabrini in 2007 and was to earn a master's degree in information science from Drexel University this month. He was diagnosed with brain cancer in June.

He and his brother Richard were born in Colorado Springs, Colo. Their mother, Diane O'Connor Salazar, a research chemist, raised her sons alone after divorcing Paul Salazar. In 1983, she and her sons moved to Baltimore. They moved to Chester County in 1989.

Mr. Salazar graduated from Conestoga High School in 1996, and then attended Randolph-Macon College for a year.

When their mother was ill with cancer, "Corey was her primary caregiver," Richard Salazar said. After her death in 1998, Mr. Salazar worked for a year, including on the maintenance staff in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, before enrolling at Cabrini.

While growing up, he played on youth baseball teams and on his high school team. In recent years, he had season tickets to the Phillies. He was a sports enthusiast and had a huge sports memorabilia collection, his brother said.

He loved reading history and antiquing.

"He looked for anything old that had a story," his brother said.

Cabrini College is administered by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

"Corey treated the senior Cabrini sisters as if each were his grandmother," Schwelm said. One of the sisters he befriended called him Cor, which means "heart" in Latin. "A big heart is what Corey had," Schwelm said.

Mr. Salazar and his fiancée, Kathleen Grant, met when she was one of his student assistants in the library at Cabrini, and they reconnected several years later. They enjoyed visiting historical sites and walking in Valley Forge National Historical Park.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Historical Park, Route 23, Valley Forge. Friends may call at 10 a.m.