Rare books and manuscripts are a regular part of Mitchell Codding’s professional life, courtesy of his role as executive director of The Hispanic Society of America, located in New York City’s Upper Manhattan. “If you’re really interested in Hispanic literature, art, culture, that kind of thing, it’s like being a kid in a candy story. You get to deal physically with those objects, something most people don’t get to do,” Codding said enthusiastically of his role with the museum and library that compose the Society. Though he’s been in New York working for the Hispanic Society for more than 25 years—Codding became the Society’s assistant director in 1984 and has been executive director since 1995—he still remembers his time in Lexington and at UK fondly.