The document describes the career path and experiences of an individual that inspired them to pursue a career in education. They were inspired by their one-room schoolteacher, Edna Mae Riedel, who taught them to read at a young age and fostered their love of reading. They went on to receive degrees in English and Library Science. They had a successful career as a high school teacher and librarian at several universities. Throughout their career, they advocated for new technologies and services to improve libraries. They also successfully obtained funding for new library buildings and renovations from state legislatures.
Example 1 Student Example Professor C.N. Myers .docxSANSKAR20
Example 1
Student Example
Professor C.N. Myers
English 1010-E01
5 May 2009
Don’t Ever Let Someone Tell You That You Can’t Do Something:
A Literacy Narrative
I will never forget learning how to read and write for the very first time. I used to closely
watch my sister do her work for college. Then, I would innocently sit by her and read a book to
mimic her. This memory immediately comes to my head when I think about how I learned to
read. I remember my sister getting me ready for a bath on one warm summer night before my
first day of kindergarten. I told her how excited I was for the next day and asked her, “Will I
learn how to read and count?” She replied with “Yes, you’re going to learn your ABCs and your
123s and everything else.” I went onto to ask her, “But what are ABCs?” She said, “You’ll find
out.” Then, I washed up quickly and continued to get ready for the next day.
Ever since that first day, I would annoyingly show my sister my books and worksheets
and ask her about every word I couldn’t pronounce. She would tell me to just sound them out
instead of telling me every one of them. So I did exactly that. I would patiently sit there every
day and analyze words that I couldn’t say. I broke them down word by word, never giving up. I
would divide the words up by their letters as if they were math problems. I built word upon word
every day. I was fascinated by books series such as Arthur and The Bernstein Bears. I loved
everything about them from the way they felt in my hand to the world that they took me into just
by reading. I also mimicked my brother when he did his reading for school. I loved being
around my siblings and doing everything they did, no matter what it was. So while they were
Example 2
reading to accomplish goals in school, my earliest recollections of reading and writing were
simply for the enjoyment of being closer to the people I loved the most.
As I went through elementary school, I always especially enjoyed reading books and
writing. I used to read books such as Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants and Jeff Kinney’s Diary
of a Wimpy Kid. I would read the books then rewrite my own version of a certain chapter
because I thought my version would be more interesting and whimsical. I had composition
books full of my imaginative writings. They also had different cartoon sketches I would make
up. Those books were amazingly colorful due to the fact that I wrote mostly with colored
pencils. I spent months upon months perfecting those composition notebooks that I called books.
Page by page, I would fill them up. I remember also asking my friends for help along the way.
They weren’t as interesting; in fact, they may have thought it was a little silly for me to actually
think my writings were real books. I remember days where I used to get in trouble for writing
those things in school without permission. Books that I read throug ...
[TASL] Annual Conference for 2010
http://www.discoveret.org/tasl/
When: November 4 – 6, 2010
Where: Murfreesboro, TN
Murfreesboro Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center
Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel & Conference Center
1200 Conference Center Blvd Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Group/convention code [SLM]
What: This year’s theme is “Get Connected”
CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY LEADERS
CONNECTING WITH YOUR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION
CONNECTING WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES
CONNECTING WITH AUTHORS AND ADVOCATES
CONNECTING WITH VENDORS
CONNECTING WITH TASL LEADERS
Example 1 Student Example Professor C.N. Myers .docxSANSKAR20
Example 1
Student Example
Professor C.N. Myers
English 1010-E01
5 May 2009
Don’t Ever Let Someone Tell You That You Can’t Do Something:
A Literacy Narrative
I will never forget learning how to read and write for the very first time. I used to closely
watch my sister do her work for college. Then, I would innocently sit by her and read a book to
mimic her. This memory immediately comes to my head when I think about how I learned to
read. I remember my sister getting me ready for a bath on one warm summer night before my
first day of kindergarten. I told her how excited I was for the next day and asked her, “Will I
learn how to read and count?” She replied with “Yes, you’re going to learn your ABCs and your
123s and everything else.” I went onto to ask her, “But what are ABCs?” She said, “You’ll find
out.” Then, I washed up quickly and continued to get ready for the next day.
Ever since that first day, I would annoyingly show my sister my books and worksheets
and ask her about every word I couldn’t pronounce. She would tell me to just sound them out
instead of telling me every one of them. So I did exactly that. I would patiently sit there every
day and analyze words that I couldn’t say. I broke them down word by word, never giving up. I
would divide the words up by their letters as if they were math problems. I built word upon word
every day. I was fascinated by books series such as Arthur and The Bernstein Bears. I loved
everything about them from the way they felt in my hand to the world that they took me into just
by reading. I also mimicked my brother when he did his reading for school. I loved being
around my siblings and doing everything they did, no matter what it was. So while they were
Example 2
reading to accomplish goals in school, my earliest recollections of reading and writing were
simply for the enjoyment of being closer to the people I loved the most.
As I went through elementary school, I always especially enjoyed reading books and
writing. I used to read books such as Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants and Jeff Kinney’s Diary
of a Wimpy Kid. I would read the books then rewrite my own version of a certain chapter
because I thought my version would be more interesting and whimsical. I had composition
books full of my imaginative writings. They also had different cartoon sketches I would make
up. Those books were amazingly colorful due to the fact that I wrote mostly with colored
pencils. I spent months upon months perfecting those composition notebooks that I called books.
Page by page, I would fill them up. I remember also asking my friends for help along the way.
They weren’t as interesting; in fact, they may have thought it was a little silly for me to actually
think my writings were real books. I remember days where I used to get in trouble for writing
those things in school without permission. Books that I read throug ...
[TASL] Annual Conference for 2010
http://www.discoveret.org/tasl/
When: November 4 – 6, 2010
Where: Murfreesboro, TN
Murfreesboro Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center
Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel & Conference Center
1200 Conference Center Blvd Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Group/convention code [SLM]
What: This year’s theme is “Get Connected”
CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY LEADERS
CONNECTING WITH YOUR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION
CONNECTING WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES
CONNECTING WITH AUTHORS AND ADVOCATES
CONNECTING WITH VENDORS
CONNECTING WITH TASL LEADERS
Mary-Louise Fleming, Ph.D. CV
Work experience
Jan 2012 – current Head, School of Public Health and Social Work
July 2006 – Dec 2011 Head, School of Public Health
2003 – June 2006 Acting Head, School Public Health (July to November, 2003: February 2004 – June 2006)
2003 - 2006 Director of Academic Programs, School Public Health
1997 – 2000 Academic Adviser to Dean, Faculty of Health
1993 – 1997, 2001 Senior Lecturer School of Public Health
1988 - 1993 Acting Head, School of Public Health 4th April 1993 to 31 December 1993.
Head, Department of Community Studies, School of Health and Welfare Studies, Brisbane College of Advanced Education (1988-90) and Senior Lecturer in Health Education, Course Co-ordinator, Graduate Diploma in Health Science (Health Education)
1984- 1988 Lecturer in Health Education, School of Health and Welfare Studies, Brisbane College of Advanced Education (1987-88); Lecturer in Health Education, Department of Social Science, Division of Community Studies, Kelvin Grove Campus, Brisbane College of Advanced Education (1985-86).
1982 - 1983 Lecturer in Health Education, School of Education, Canberra College of Advanced Education, ACT.
Nov – Dec 1981 Research Assistant, Director, Central Executive, Brisbane Colleges of Advanced Education.
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
Normal Labour/ Stages of Labour/ Mechanism of LabourWasim Ak
Normal labor is also termed spontaneous labor, defined as the natural physiological process through which the fetus, placenta, and membranes are expelled from the uterus through the birth canal at term (37 to 42 weeks
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Home assignment II on Spectroscopy 2024 Answers.pdf
Maureen Pastine - Pastime with Pastine
1. 1) What notable events or people inspired you to pursue a career in this industry? Why?
I began my career as a high school teacher of juniors and seniors in English, Journalism, and
Creative Writing. The person who inspired me the most was my one-room country school
teacher, Edna Mae Riedel. She was my teacher for eight years until I graduated from Ford
School, near Ogallah, Kansas, on the Saline River, bordering my parents’ home and all of our
neighbors’ homes, many with children in the same one-room country school.
I asked her to teach me how to read on the first day of school. She taught me most of the
alphabet that week and in the second week of school I could read. She was a fantastic teacher,
an inspiration, and a role model. The first books I read were for elementary students and were
about cats, dogs, and horses, all subjects that as a farm girl I was very interested in, and we had
some on our farm/ranch. Edna Mae soon had me reading novels as she read to the entire group
of students chapters from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer early each morning
and throughout my eight years in school. I was hooked and from then on checked out reading
materials before returning home at the end of the day, as we all seemed to be.
Edna Mae also allowed me to purchase books for the school library. Soon I began checking out
books from a nearby town Library in WaKeeney, Kansas. My mother and father frequently went
to estate sales and purchased large boxes of books. These too became part of the school
library. Neighbors did the same. Our library grew and grew.
I never lost my love for reading and soon developed a zest for writing essays as well to fulfill
requirements of my English classes over the years. My reading graduated from fiction, to non-
fiction, particularly history and scientific subjects such as geology, and my father’s Farm Journal.
My mother, too, was an inspiration as she, too, had been a one room school teacher and had
taught my older brother (two years older than me) to read before he started school. My mother
was fascinated with the flying career of Amelia Erhart and my sisters and I have continued to
follow all of the news stories on finding her final fatal flight and where that might be. My
mother, like Edna Mae was very involved in the community in which she lived, family history and
stories, and quilting, embroidery, crocheting, and sewing of clothes for her children and helping
my father with farm/ranch chores, as he also worked as a “roughneck” on oil wells, prominent in
Trego County, Kansas, still today. He often helped us with math and algebra homework, along
with my older brother, even though he, my dad had only an eighth grade education he was a
well-educated man who always told us that education was extremely important to go on to
college when we graduated from high school. My mom did the same but she had a teaching
degree from Fort Hays State University.
Mom and Dad had five children (including a set of fraternal twins – one boy and one girl).
Because of the twins and our fascination with them, I often read books about twins or written
by a twin about being a twin, and scientific articles about them. Our twin brother and sister had
their own private language until they were in third grade and our teacher asked my mother if
2. she could stop them from using it to play tricks on classmates. Mom did and they quit using that
private language. My youngest brother (the male twin) and my youngest sister died young.
David died at age 55 of cancer. My sister died at age 55 of a hospital error. My dad had also
died young (he was 57 and died of cancer).
I received my undergraduate degree in English, with minors in journalism and the arts at Fort
Hays State University. I then began teaching English, Journalism, and Creative Writing in High
Schools. I loved doing this and once in a while hear from some of my students over the Internet,
on e-mail or through Facebook. I believe I was a successful teacher as my students always told
me that I was their ”best teacher” and those who have contacted me since tell me the same.
Most of my students also went on to college or university, and I often heard that all my students
were “A” students in their English classes at Fort Hays State, Kansas State, or the University of
Kansas. The principals of the high schools in which I taught (LaCrosse, KS; Kingman, KS, and
Palco, KS) were the ones who informed me of their grades too. I always asked my students to
enter writing contests and in every school I taught at least five to ten of my students won
scholarhips to a college or university of their choice because they had won many of these
contests.
My first high school position was as a student teacher to complete my teaching certification in
Kansas at LaCrosse, Kansas. My two supervising teachers one in freshman and sophomore
English and the second in Junior and Senior English were both called back home, i.e. out of state,
during the time I was to be supervised – i.e. after my first couple of weeks of watching them
teach.
The principal then asked me to go ahead and teach in their place until they could return. They
did not return until the last week of the semester, thus I completed almost a full semester of
teaching with only the Principal monitoring my performance once or so in the weeks that I
taught these classes. Both of these teachers and the principal told me I had done an incredible
job with little or no supervision for that semester. I was terrified the first couple of days but the
students were really supportive and kept telling me that I was doing great, just gave them too
much homework but that they really liked that I knew all of their names and faces the first day I
had to teach them.
After teaching high school for a number of years, I went to Emporia State University and
received a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science. I then went back to teaching at a
high school and was also the high school librarian. Near the end of the school year, I was sought
out and offered a position, after an interview, at Nebraska State University at Omaha. I began
as a reference librarian, helped with planning the construction of a new library, and was soon
promoted to the Head of the Reference Department , prior to the move into the new library.
This was my first academic library and the Reference Department grew from two librarians and
one staff member to ten librarians (two requested from the state legislature and approved), one
staff member, and a number of student assistants.
3. While at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I was promoted from Librarian to Assistant
Professor (a faculty position) – the first time this had ever happened to a librarian since they had
the opportunity to apply for promotion as a faculty member – a number of years had passed
before my promotion before any librarian would even try to become a faculty member, as well
as a librarian. I know of no other librarian who was promoted into faculty ranks, except for one
while I worked there.
After eight years at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Illinois at Urbana
offered me a position as Director of the Undergraduate Library. I served in that position for
several years. This was my first academic library position in a large research land grant
university. I learned a great deal and loved the position. After my first year the Director of the
Main Library asked me to Head up the Reference Department in the main library and oversee
the reference and user education services in all the 39 departmental libraries and the
undergraduate library. I also loved this new position.
I did some fundraising at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and renovated the
Undergraduate Library and the Main Reference Room and provided new space for librarian
offices. I worked closely with OCLC (Online Library Computer Center - for large research
Libraries) and our Office of Interlibrary Loan. One day the Library Director, Hugh Atkinson,
another fantastic mentor, asked me what I was reading in his outer office. I told him about new
fax machines. He asked if I thought a fax machine would be useful in an academic library. I
responded that I was sure it would be. He asked for the magazine. A few days later he brought
a newly delivered fax machine to me in the Reference Department in the main library. We used
it for a couple of months. In a reference department meeting, I asked the librarians if they
thought it might be of more use in the Interlibrary Loan Office. There was a lengthy discussion
with everyone agreeing that was probably a better place to locate the fax machine.
We called the Head of Interlibrary Loan and asked if she would like to try this machine out. A
week later she returned to the reference department and told us that the fax machine had
really speeded up the work of Interlibrary Loan and thanked us for our willingness to give up our
machine.
I am still surprised that the Library Director at that University showed me that seeing librarians
really get interested in new technologies and new services in their professional positions should
be rewarded, not just by salary increases and promotions, but by following what they see or
hear in personal meetings. He was great at this and I have tried to follow his example.
I was also asked to teach several classes in the American Library Association accredited library
school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a fantastic opportunity which I also
used to select some of the best of the graduate students to work in the Undergraduate Library
and in the Reference Department of the main Library, or a Departmental Library when needed.
4. The University of Illinois was a great library to work in and personnel really worked well
together. I have often continued to contact colleagues that I worked with there who became
close friends, many of whom are now working in other libraries across the country.
I was promoted to Associate University Librarian (a faculty position) and tenured at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
I was surprised at one national American Library Association Conference to see ten library
directors who had once worked for me enter a party I was giving for friends. They approached
me and told me that they had gotten in touch with each other when they realized that each of
them had worked for me and loved working under my supervision. They had all been invited to
a party that I was hosting for librarian friends and showed up together to tell me that they
wanted me to see ten of those who I had formerly supervised, who had become library directors
themselves. I was really pleased.
That evening is still a wonderful memory – many of my former employees – more than ten now
are library directors and many others are heads of departmental libraries and/or heads of
departments in main libraries all over the country. Most have told me the same thing that the
ten women told me that night.
I was soon being asked to apply for a number of academic library positions in the California
State University System of 19 campuses. I was interviewed by two of my choosing and accepted
the one at San Jose State University. It had had a problematic history with library directors over
the years and the last one had died at a young age of a heart attack on the job. I accepted the
position. It was the most difficult of my professional career but I learned a great deal that
helped me in all future positions.
Some staff at San Jose State University tried to make it really difficult for me but the
administration and faculty were, for the most part, very supportive of all that I accomplished.
One of my first tasks was to rectify, with the state legislature, getting more funding to compete
the construction of a new library and renovate the old library, as the new library was not large
enough to hold all of the resources and staffing of the old library. With the help of the President
and the Provost of San Jose State University, I was successful, and was able to obtain funding
for the first online library catalog in any of the California State University Libraries. I wrote the
cataloging specifications for all of the CSU System Libraries and was able to interest Steve Jobs
to work with SJSU Libraries for designing and integrating a bibliographic system into the online
catalog that was then used, as well by all of the CSU Libraries.
This position helped me to gain great expertise in fundraising with state legislatures and in
designing library buildings and final construction and working with my library budget officer and
university budget officers when the Legislature cut almost half of our library positions and about
5. a third of our funding during Proposition 13 in the California State University budget cuts. We
were the largest University at that time and bore the greatest cuts. I was able to keep vacated
positions open and use them to get through this crisis. That was a difficult time but I was
successful at resolving many financial problems and fill the vacant positions at a much later date
with new librarians and staff that were more supportive than some of the older ones had been.
I also developed an exchange plan for librarians and staff members to be able to work at other
university libraries willing to participate across the country. One librarian transferred for a year
to a Northeastern small university and their periodicals librarian transferred to SJSU. A staff
member transferred for a short time to get an opportunity to travel to and work in an Australian
Library. The librarian exchange to the northeastern university library requested that we
consider hiring the head of the serials department in our Library for a position that was opening
up at SJSU Library. I asked the Search Committee for their opinion on this. They spoke to our
librarian who had worked under this individual in the exchange. He was very enthusiastic about
this and the Search Committee returned to me with a positive response. The candidate from
the exchange at the northeastern university was one of the candidates interviewed. He did so
well that he was appointed to the vacated position.
While at San Jose State University I was promoted from the Associate Librarian (faculty) position
that I held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to a full professor and tenured and
was nominated to Phi Beta Kappa and accepted that position along with other faculty members
on campus. That same year I was asked to accept a nomination into the International Library
Association. I accepted and am now a lifetime member of both these two organizations.
Soon I accepted a position at Washington State University, another land grant institution similar
in that aspect to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Because of that I became very
involved with international relations in which the University was involved, as well as
coordinating many of our librarians working in Yemen, a developing country, a couple for
several years. They asked me to establish a United States land grant institution international
relations conference that could be shared with the other land grant institutions, first by having a
conference on our campus and then at other Land Grant Institutions. With their help we did this
and it was successful.
I learned a great deal about Land Grant Institutions and the countries in which they worked.
Because of this I was able to get the American Library Association’s College and Research
Libraries Division to establish an International Relations Committee. I chaired the Committee
for over five years and then convinced another land grant institution participating to take over
as Chair of the Committee.
While working as Director of Libraries at Washington State University, I approached the state
legislature with a program requesting funds for renovation of the old library and funds for a new
library to expand upon the old library. I was told by the Provost, the budget officer, and the
6. Development Officer of Washington State University that my request would never be
considered, as only the University of Washington Libraries ever received any monies from the
legislature. They did agree that I could try. I wrote a brief synopsis of why the money was
needed for the existing Library and for a new library attached to the existing library. I waited
for the person I had contacted to read my short request, prior to setting up an appointment
with several legislators and presenting the draft program I had completed. I received a call
within the week from the legislator that I had contacted. He immediately asked if I had a draft
program. I told him that I did. He told me that he had shared my “need synopsis” with several
other legislative personnel and that they would like to meet with me and our budget officer
within the next week. He asked if I could get approval of our President and Provost and invite
them to such a meeting with me and the University budget officer as soon as I could get
everyone together. I called him back the next day with two dates and with all the personnel he
had asked me if I could reach to attend such a meeting. He also wanted me to share my
preliminary program with all attending this meeting and to send him several copies. I sent
copies to everyone who would be attending the meeting (it was to be on the first date that I had
suggested).
I was nervous as I continued to be told by the budget officer that I had no chance of getting
money from the Washington State Legislature. The day of the meeting I was nervous but well
prepared and had spoken with all the higher level personnel that I had invited, at the request of
the legislator I had contacted, to make certain how desperately we needed more space and
some new space. The meeting went really well. The legislator said that the paperwork he and
the other legislators had received from me was better thought out than any they had ever
received. They told the group at the end of our meeting that these 3 legislators were sure that
the funding would be approved once the legislature met at the end of the month. I received a
call from the head of the legislature after the meeting telling me that the funding was approved
and that I would get a letter, copied to our budget officer and President and Provost by the end
of the next week. I did receive that letter. The President called a meeting with me, the Provost,
and the University’s Budget Officer to tell them the news and ask for their support for whatever
I needed to get faculty, library personnel, and students involved before final plans were drawn
up. I did as he asked. The library personnel were more surprised than anyone, other than the
University Budget Officer.
I had many meetings with campus and library personnel as plans grew and were tightened and
improved. The budget officer met many times with me and library personnel and we reviewed
the original program and improved upon it and split costs for all that had to be covered. Finally
we were allowed to interview and select an architectural firm with a close to final plan, even
though I knew that plans change as construction begins and new developments occur. I was
right but really excited.
Before the construction began Southern Methodist University contacted me and asked me to
interview as their Director of Libraries in Dallas, Texas. I was floored and told them that I was
planning new library construction, hiring an architectural firm, and did not want anything to fall
7. apart. They continued to call me and begged me to at least do an interview. I did. They offered
me the position that day. It was a great offer with promises to do many of the things that I felt
were needed at the SMU libraries, including getting into the automated library world, including
purchasing an online catalog and bibliographic system, barcoding all the library’s resources, and
purchasing some electronic information resources, and developing access to them across
campus in all the libraries, and with the Computer Center and the Library’s Media Services,
building digital commons in the libraries, the planned Hamon Arts Library (construction not yet
even begun and much left to plan for this) and within the Business Library, the Science Library,
and the Film Center. The work to be completed, including renovations and construction would
be enormous, and I felt that we should work with the surrounding community where no public
library existed to provide some services for them. They agreed but really wanted me to accept
the position that day.
I declined accepting the position without first thinking about the ramifications for Washington
State University and its several on- and off-campus libraries, elsewhere in the state, and in
Russia and Yemen. When I returned I first spoke to the assistant directors in the libraries, my
administrative assistant, and then the Provost (my direct supervisor) and the President. I sat as
a member of both the Provost’s Council and the President’s Council. I spoke to the University
Budget Officer. All asked me if I wanted the SMU position. I said that I had been at WSU for 8
years, felt that I had hired a number of really good personnel, and that the library had a number
of really capable personnel who would be able to complete much of what they had helped me
to do in the planning and proposed construction, but they would need, undoubtedly to begin to
search for someone from within or outside to fill my place – someone that they all agreed would
be able to do the renovation of the Wahlquist Library and add the new Clark Library. They told
me that they hated to see me go but that they understood that this was a real opportunity for
me, to work in a smaller private university with several libraries and a large archival library, and
with an institution known for its great ability at fundraising which I, too, was very interested.
The calls from SMU for the next couple of weeks increased from administrators, faculty and the
search committee. WSU asked me to give them the name of someone in the Library I felt could
handle the job until a new library director could be found if I took the SMU position. I finally
gave them the name of my administrative assistant who I knew could do the job but also knew
that a few others in the library would be resentful.
I finally told WSU administrators that I was going to call and accept the SMU Job and told them
of others in the library who I felt would be supportive of the Administrative Assistant as Director
of the Libraries, first on a temporary basis, and if they did not find someone they wanted in the
search process, maybe for an even longer term.
At Southern Methodist University I was asked immediately to complete plans for changes
needed in the Libraries, Media Services, and improved connections with the Computer Center.
In order to do this successfully I met with each Dean on campus, with all library personnel in
different ways, sometimes individually, sometimes by department, and sometimes within
8. smaller libraries, and always going over everything with my administrative council. Many faculty
made personal appointments with me to tell me what changes they wanted to see in the main
library, as well as in the departmental libraries. Some Departmental Chairs invited me to meet
with selected faculty so that I could hear from them about what changes they would like to see
in the libraries. I also met with the entire University Development Office who asked me to
prepare an initial plan for Library and Media Services fundraising. They were really supportive
of that plan and began on immediate searches to help fund projects that could be done prior to
renovations and construction. I was impressed with them and with individual donors interested
in the libraries, whom they sent to meet with me immediately. I began writing proposals that
they could work on with me or other library personnel before we finished a final plan for
renovations and construction.
The fundraising for the Hamon Arts Library was completed before I arrived and construction
well underway. However, they involved me in continued fundraising for the new Hamon Arts
Library, their interest in having the Library in charge of the Film Center collections, and they
introduced me to all major donors of the Hamon Arts Library, and many of them made
appointments to see me. They wanted a new Director of the Hamon Arts Library and wanted
me to establish a search committee and meet the candidates as soon as decisions were made
on them. There were fine arts, music faculty, a former fine arts/music librarian, and the Head
of the DeGolyer (archival) Library and a second archival library on the search committee. They
made their decisions quickly. The new Head of the Hamon Arts Building was hired after I arrived
on campus. She and I met frequently on the Hamon Arts Library and the Film Center and its
collections and a planned theater to be built next to the Hamon Arts Library. She was
supportive of all of my ideas and gave me a lot of hers to incorporate into my planning for the
Hamon Arts Library and the planned fine arts theatre.
When the search committee finished its deliberations they were approved by the Fine Arts
Director and by the Director of the Libraries. I was then asked to interview the two finalists at
the Music Library Association in Maryland, where I had been invited to speak on Music Library
Ethics, a year prior to my appointment at the annual conference of the Music Library Association
– a perfect place and timing for me to interview the two finalist candidates and then discuss my
preferences with the new Hamon Arts Library director. She fully agreed with my assessment, as
did the search committee. He was offered the appointment and he accepted.
My fundraising abilities grew tremendously at Southern Methodist University. Every proposed
plan that I submitted to Library personnel, University administrators, and then to the Provost’s
Council, was then forwarded to the University Budget Office and the University Development
Office. A few changes were often required but most were accepted as submitted, although the
amount of funding to be raised was sometimes lowered by the Development Office. Once they
told me that one of my prospective donors who I had worked with on several projects could not
be asked for more than $3,000 for planning for new automated and digital services across
campus libraries. One of the Development Officers attended a Power Point presentation that I
9. had completed on this project for the potential donor to see before I asked him for funding.
When I finished the presentation, he asked me how much would be needed to complete the
entire project, far over the minimal amount of money that the Development Officer told me
that I could ask for, even though I was the person who found and frequently met with this
library donor. He was not a general university donor. I knew though that the Development
Office wanted him to become a large donor for the University and knew that he was capable of
large gifts.
Not knowing how to respond I replied to his query by stating that the University was setting
priorities for raising funds and that I was told that I could not expect a large amount on this
project. He replied, Maureen, I don’t care what plans the University has for fundraising in areas
other than the libraries. I have worked with you on several projects. The only projects I want to
donate to are the libraries, and I know you well enough that I can tell you that you would not
put such a plan together and not know the potential costs. I explained that it would be close to
$35,000 the first year. He again replied, looking directly at the Development Officer at this
meeting, I am writing a check for $30,000 for this Library project that benefits the entire
campus. I expect the Development Office to help Maureen find other donors if the cost exceeds
that this year. I knew it would not as it would take at least two to three years to complete the
entire project. He handed the check to the Development Officer and said, “I do not want to
hear that the Libraries did not receive the total amount of this check.” We did the following
week. He continued to support the libraries the entire 8 years that I worked at SMU. Not all of
our donors were so generous. A few were even more generous.
Knowing how to balance your needs against other campus needs is not always easy, especially if
you work in the Development Office. I always tried to think of ways that the libraries could
support their own needs, along with other campus needs. That helped me in working with the
Development Office, the Budget Office, the President’s Office, the Provost’s Office, and the
many Deans, Department Chairs, and faculty and students that used the libraries and the
computer center. I knew that every campus need must be weighed against other campus needs
and how best to protect and involve other campus groups in our planning as they would often
be the users of our resources and services, thus sometimes we supported other campus needs
above library needs and were pleased when others did the same for the libraries.
I was very successful at fundraising and learned much from Development Officers, sitting on
high level University Councils and Committes, and ensuring that the libraries planning
documents were widely available to all segments of the campus, particularly our faculty and
student users, as well as primary university administrators and Deans. Our panning documents
were always available on the Libraries’ web site and print copies made available to anyone who
requested them.
I helped to complete oversight of the Hamon Arts Library and its final planning. I was most
pleased when I found that in its first use fine arts users had grown from 4% of its potential
10. library users to 45% of total potential users. This growth rate increased every year until the
library was always fully packed and additional space was needed. The Film Center began to
prepare for the overflow and we had to add seating there and additional automation for library
access.
My final academic research university library position was Director of Libraries at a highly
multicultural university, Temple University, in Philadelphia., Pennsylvania.
I completed renovation of some departmental libraries, the Main Library, a Temple University
Library in Rome that also served a few other university libraries who had students in Rome, Italy.
That renovation included connecting them to our Online Catalog and hiring a librarian to
complete their on-line bibliographic cataloging, and purchasing needed computer equipment
for users and staff. I visited that University, its library and library director a number of times to
ensure that students, faculty and staff were pleased with library resources and services.
I initiated a Library Donor Board for Library fundraising activities. They assisted in helping us
find funds for major projects, including some construction, renovation, and purchase of
resources and computer equipment. The bibliographic cataloging of the Dunbar Library (an
elementary school library) for which we purchased resources, was done by the Bibliographic
Department of the main library on campus. Students and staff of the Dunbar School were
allowed to access our online library catalog and check out resources from the main library on
campus if necessary. We taught the students how to use information technology and purchased
computer equipment for the Dunbar School Library, and our campus Computer Center installed
it for them, with hookups to our Main Library website. Our Main campus librarians and staff
assisted Computer Center staff in teaching Dunbar School students and staff to use the new
information technology and computer resources.
We also renovated an old campus construction site for a community library, off-site of the Main
campus, for use by anyone living nearby, no matter the age. All they had to do was come in and
sign up for a library card. They could use the library resources we purchased for this site and an
information technology center connecting them to the Internet and the main campus library to
request more resources if necessary. We met with community personnel who helped at this
community library once a week. Many of our librarians and Computer Center personnel would
also help at this site during different times each week, just as we did at Dunbar Library.
I worked closely with many university administrators, the budget officer, library personnel at
several locations, and even more importantly, University students and over 5,000 faculty
members, and their department heads. I conducted many research studies, with help from
different staff members. Some of those studies helped a new library director, after me, help to
complete a renovated building off-campus but nearby, in which many of our older books and
archives were moved into, along with information technology allowing users to access the main
library and digital records of many archival records housed in this center.
11. The President who hired me was very supportive as were the majority of faculty with whom I
worked. I was asked to take over the vacant University Press Director position, along with my
Director of Libraries position, the new Director of the University Press and I worked closely
together with a new budget officer at the Press, to clean up a $5,000,000 overage of
expenditures in budgeting of the University Press that had occurred with a former director. It
took us two years to do this but it was accomplished and we raised the funding brought in by
the University Press, primarily by making major changes in operations and services. At the end
of the two year period, another new University Press Director was hired. I received no salary for
this second position but the task was completed and the major problems with funding were
covered and resolved so that they would not recur in the future, and funding was increased
through fundraising efforts.
After eight years at Temple University, I retired and my husband and I headed for Camp Verde,
Arizona. Along the way I received a telephone call from the Chief of the Yavapai-Apache Nation,
four Tribal Council members, and an Executive Director. The Chief of the Nation told me that he
was looking for a Grants Writer and Grants Administrator and asked the other tribal members
on the phone to help him interview me. I asked how they knew about my fundraising activities
and how to contact me. He told me that he had run into my brother in Show Low, Arizona and
my brother had told him that I was good at fundraising, that I was on the road to live in Camp
Verde after retirement, and he gave them my cell phone number. They asked many questions
about where I had worked, what positions I had held, my primary responsibilities, and even
more questions about my fundraising activities, grant writing, and an estimate of total amount
of funds I had raised in my professional career. I told them the estimate was around $80 million
but that most had been from charities, foundations, and private donors, but that I had raised a
few million for libraries from government agencies. The Chief of the Yavapai Apache Nation told
me that the majority of their funding would have to come from federal and state grants.
As the questioning ended, he asked me if he could call me back in a few minutes after he had
consulted with all those who had questioned me over the telephone. I said that I had just
retired and was not sure that I wanted another job. All of those who were questioning me then
chimed in that they each were impressed with my responses to their questions, my 45 years of
experience in teaching and libraries, and more importantly, my experience and enthusiasm for
fundraising. The Chief then hung up. Within five minutes he returned the call he had promised
and offered me the job. The same people were still on the telephone, urging me to accept it. I
told them that the salary was low but I understood that they had no more to offer, that I would
be willing to take this job for two years. I actually worked in it for four years before I retired
again. Writing grants is extremely time consuming and checks by federal agents also took a
large amount of my time that I would have liked to spend with tribal members and finding out
their needs.
12. The needs were many and timelines to get grant requests in to state and federal governments
very short but most were for four years of funding. I wrote many grants and was never denied.
When the federal government visited the Nation and met with me, they told me that they had
few, if any, other Grant Writers and Grants Administrators as thorough and well written as
mine. They said that they had informed the Chief that I had told him, prior to their visit that I
would be retiring in the near future, and that they had encouraged him to keep me on to train
someone internally or to hire an outside person that I could train. The Chief did neither. I
retired and they did not hire anyone for five years. They recently hired a woman in the Nation
who had been their grant writer for two years but who brought in very little funding each year I
am told by tribal members who often see me, as my husband and I share a home each year with
my older brother and sister-in-law in Camp Verde. I know that they like this woman but they tell
me that I was a much better fundraiser and spent more time seeking them out to discover needs
and addressing them.
This position was one of the most interesting ones that I had ever held. I learned so much about
the history of American Indian populations and their trials and tribulations, as well as their love
of nature and connection with it and a spiritual world. Many tribal members sought me out to
tell me about the “Trail of Tears” and how it had affected the Yavapai and the Apache and how
they became one Nation. The time I spent with them was extremely helpful and I ded enjoy
writing grants to address their needs and expectations. I am so glad that I did not turn down
that offer of a job at the Yavapai-Apache Nation.
While I was working at universities I also taught a number of courses in American Library
Association accredited Library Schools throughout the country. I also wrote many books and
journal articles in the library and information technology fields, as well as in many subject areas.
Many of the books are still in publication and available through Amazon and similar places.
Publishers often tell me that a majority of those older publications are now being sold to
developing countries.
While working in universities with American Library Association accredited library schools, I
taught courses in ten different states. So my teaching, had continued to graduate schools, and I
had become a tenured full professor, with many book and journal article publications, edited
many books and journals, and some of what I published is still being sold via Amazon and via
other online booksellers.
2. Do you have any other professional endeavors that you wish to promote?
After retirement in Arizona, I headed a committee of community persons, via the City Council of
Camp Verde, and through a Committee of Librarians, to help plan a new library and begin
fundraising for a new library for Camp Verde, Arizona. The City Council established another
Committee, a 501C3 Library Fundraising organization. I served as a member of that
organization too. The my husband and I moved back to Kansas in 2009 for part of the year.
13. “We still live in Camp Verde, Arizona part of the year. I have continued to do consulting work
with many libraries and librarians on projects such as those I have worked on successfully over
the years.
My most recent retirement professional endeavor has been taking the Institute of Children’s
Literature coursework for writing children’s short stories, articles, and books. I am about half
way through a two year course and loving it. I am learning to strengthen my writing for younger
children, as I am too wordy for younger children, and too wordy, in general.
Most of my interest in writing for children stems from my extended family’s interest in having
annual reunions and other family social events and outings that captured a child’s interests in
community, socializing, and family history. Thus, my writing for children often involves family
stories that relate to my childhood, interactions with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles
and their families.
My extended family was large and very social. Over 600 family members first attended
the annual reunions but they are smaller now, 100 to 150 usually attend the reunions and
members are scattered over many states and drive long distances to attend the reunions.
Younger members do not know their cousins as well as we did when we were young, as we all
lived relatively close together. Many of our elders are long since gone but stories they told
about themselves and each other linger on with stories by those of us who still remember.
Reading, as well as writing, continue to be top priorities, in my life. Many of us stay in contact
via telephone contacts, e-mail, and Facebook, and letters. My living sister has completed much
of my own family history on my mother and my father’s side and compiled notebooks of folders
and family history and photos of many family members . She and I made trips to Denmark
where my great grandparents and their first son came from and to Germany where my other
great grandparents came from. We took many photos and met some aged family members
while visiting the towns in which they had lived prior to immigrating to the United States before
moving across the country and finally settling in Kansas. We found 10 family immigrants who
came to the United States and placed their names and date of entry into the United States on
the wall plaques at Ellis Island, and I was there for that opening ceremony at Ellis Island. Other
family can now access that information through the Internet.
Another thing that I did while working, during my vacations, was to lead educational tours in
other countries, to both developing and developed countries. I cannot remember all of the
places but they included Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil (including hiking in the
Amazon), Canada, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia,
Germany, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Mexico,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United
Kingdom, Vatican City, and some places that I cannot remember now.
14. I have also traveled to most of the United States and other ountries to visit friends and family,
and often to speak at scholarly conferences in the United States and in many different countries.
While working in large research universities and libraries, I also instigated programs where staff
and librarians could do exchanges of positions with other staff and librarians across the United
State and in Australia. In this way they learned new ways of operations, services, and programs
and passed along their own recommendations to their counterparts in the exchanges. One staff
member involved in such an exchange encouraged our search committee to recommend that
they contact the head of a department in a library in which he had been involved in an exchange
as the thought he would be an excellent candidate for a vacant position in our library. The
search committee contacted the person and encouraged him to apply for the position. He was
very well qualified. The search committee was so impressed that they selected him as the
finalist. He was offered the job and moved across the country to fill the position from a small
town in the north east to a large city in California.
a) If yes, ask: When writing your biography should we focus on this endeavor instead of the
business you currently have listed?
Yes, I think that any working person will grow and develop by moving or taking on new
assignments and working with others that are successful in what they do. Most will learn and
grow from such experience, or looking for a new position where they will have new
opportunities and challenges to develop and gain new contacts and colleagues, as well as to
learn even more and be more productive and successful. I certainly did.
I applied all principles I learned in new positions to the next new position, along with offering
my past experience and position to someone new who would also bring fresh ideas and new
options for staff and librarians and library users. Sometimes I think it is damaging to an
organization for its staff to stay in their old positions for too long, stagnating the organization
and dragging it down. It is important to know the best time for you to move on and develop
your own strengths within another organization. It is difficult to lose good people but I do
believe that many people tend to stay in a position that they have held for a long time too long.
All of us should consider another position in their own organization or another position
elsewhere where one can learn and contribute more than she or he can in their present
position?
3. What motivates you to succeed professionally every day?
Keeping in contact with colleagues that I worked with in other places, as well as to develop new
contacts and colleagues in other positions and activities that help me to expand my horizons
and think and act in new ways. I also learn from reading widely, writing and publishing, and
learning from many others in many different fields outside my own. Anyone in a successful
position can help others as they have much to offer in the way of new ways of looking at a
15. problem, new methods to carry out old functions that may no longer be valid or successful.
Others who are successful in fields outside your own carry a ton of experience and success that
can be “mind opening and mind blowing” if you are not afraid to ask for their advice and help
with a problem that you are not certain how to resolve.
It is important to look for ways to solve old problems, to involve new people to work in the same
work that you do and to provide all an opportunity for promotion and a possible position
change, a way to learn new things that will help them grow and the organization to change as
necessary. All should have opportunities for change, for growth, for moving into a new position,
for promotion and ways to earn new things that will help them in their current position and in
improving their library, or other organization, and to change a problematic situation that is
damaging to the organization. Everyone can be successful and has something to offer if you
support opportunities that involve everyone and to give everyone the opportunity to grow and
develop.
All can contribute in new ways, and, if they wish, to move up, or laterally across the
organization, or to another organization, to a more fitting or challenging position. A department
head or director should make this part of their own job, i.e. to encourage advancement in new
ways for all employees. If employees are not motivated or challenged, problems will and do
occur within an organization, usually not for the betterment of the organization. Thus, it is best
to prepare in advance so that personnel enjoy their work and want to contribute in new ways
and to gain recognition for their work in the process.
Personal success is usually crucial for any person in an organization. It is important for
supervisors and heads of departments, as well as the most high level administrators, to
recognize this. Recognition for success at even the lowest levels in an organization is very
important and should be rewarded in important ways.
4. What has been your greatest challenge so far?
My greatest challenge was learning effective and successful fundraising capabilities as I had
never taken courses on this. I became very successful at this, bringing in over $80 million dollars
in my professional careers. That challenge was also one of the most rewarding because I
learned on my own, in a way, by asking for assistance of people outside of my professional field.
Those who were the most helpful to me were donors in business, technical firms, and scientific
fields, and some in charitable organizations and foundations, as well as government agencies
who awarded grants.
However, the most helpful people were the individual donors who had real interests in specific
projects in which I needed to raise funds. They could not be dissuaded for another project that
provided more recognition for them and their company. They wanted to be involved in their
own personal interest and if your project touched upon that interest, they could tell you exactly
how you could improve upon it, how they could help, and give you a list of many others who
16. would be more than willing to help and who could give you dozens of other names to contact
for funding gifts.
Most of the people who assisted me in learning about fundraising funds, and many who served
on my Donor Board of Directors were people from these groups who had helped me learn about
fundraising. They offered to help me establish my first Donor Board of Directors and select
others who would be excellent candidates to set on these Boards. I owe them so much. I
learned and grew with the assistance of people outside of my professional field, many in
business, technical fields, and scientific fields, and others from charitable organizations and
foundations, and some from government agencies.
A few others on these Boards were individual donors with a great interest in libraries and
archives. All of them became close friends as well because they wanted to see me become a
success. They often visited me at work, or invited me to functions where I could meet potential
donors and meet others who could help me find potential donors and board members. Often
when I ran into problematic areas that I had not encountered before I would call one of these
persons, and usually they would invite me to meet with them for lunch to discuss the problem
or issue and help me to find ways to resolve it. I learned a great deal this way.
One of my best donors was a 98 year old woman who had been a former one-room country
school teacher in Texas, and prior to that an Interlibrary Loan Librarian in Dallas, Texas who
drove a truck between libraries all over Dallas. She had also served on a Navy ship stationed
outside of the Florida Coastline. As a woman there was no restroom for women so they turned
one of the restrooms for men into one for her. Many of the sailors did not have an education
and asked her to teach them so she did and ended up with most of the naval crew in her
classroom.
I loved her stories but was even more impressed with how much money she had saved over her
lifetime and invested and it grew into a substantial amount, which she used to fund my
academic library as well as four other large research university libraries, mostly on the northeast
coast. We became great friends and I visited often on her farm where she was still shearing
sheep in her late 90s, on her 400 acre farm. She had cut the herd down from about 200 sheep
to about 5 when she reached 98. She really wanted to live to be 100 and she almost made it.
I went to see her about once a month and talked to her almost every weekend after I got the
Director of Libraries position at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She called me after she
read about my appointment to that position and asked if we could become friends as she was
lonely and most of her friends and family had died. She also told me that she wanted to be a
library donor as well.
She was a library donor and became one of my best friends until her death. She was
hospitalized when a neighbor found her lying on the floor in her home and unable to get up.
That neighbor took her to the hospital. It was a Saturday. Late Saturday evening her doctor
called my home and told me that she had asked him to call me. She told him that I told her the
17. evening before when she called me that I would call her the next evening, and she did not want
me to try to call her and then worry about her when she wasn’t home to answer her phone. She
died much later that night. Her niece and I have become long distance friends since then. I still
miss her.
She was a person who told me that it was very important to become involved in your local
community when you retired so that you always had close friends and with whom you could
share your most common interests and where you could give back to the community that would
support you in many new ways. How true that is, and it is something that my parents always
told me too. “Never forget the community in which you live and provide support to others
when you can.” I try to live by that advice, as it is very true.
5. Do you have any advice that you would like to offer to other professionals in your field?
Be certain that you do not just focus on your own professional growth and development.
Look for ways that others in your workplace and professional organizations can provide the
same for those who work with and for us. They will be our supporters and our future. Do not
bypass them in decision making. They usually want to have a voice and want to be involved in
planning and completing major tasks, events, and planning. Let them. They have much to offer.
Help staff to learn and to grow, to be able to move in upward positions or laterally, or into new
positions elsewhere, if that is what they want. Help them to achieve their own goals and be
successful in whatever they choose in their position or positions throughout your time in
working with them and later if they move on. If you help them, they will, undoubtedly do the
same for you if you ask.
6. Are we missing anything? Is there anything else important to you that you would like to
discuss that we have not covered already?
Yes, librarianship is primarily a woman’s field but when I first began as an Academic Research
Library Director, I was the youngest of eleven women Library Directors in 112 Academic
Research University Library Directors. We had an organization and met annually. That
organization was called Academic Library Directors Engaged in Library Networking (WALDDEN).
I invited several other women library directors of small college and university libraries to join us.
Only a couple did. I was shocked when two of the larger research university librarians, upon
seeing these two women, who I had invited, as I felt they needed our support, tell them that
they were not welcome there and had not “paid their dues.” I objected, as did many of the
other library directors but the damage was done. The two women did not feel welcome and left
the next day. I know this kind of thing can and does still happen.
I want all women to know that most other women want to see more women achieve high level
positions in our field and in other fields and not to be shamed by such statements but “stick it
out” – you will have the support of most women in such positions. Today women library
directors are the majority in large research university library directorships. Go for it – i.e. apply
18. for those vacant positions. You are just as ready as most of the men who will apply, if not more
so.
I was once told by my direct supervisor, a Provost, when he heard that I was given a salary equal
to that of the highest paid Dean (the President set the salaries for me and the Deans each year),
that he he was shocked. I asked him why and he said, “Well you are the only female on the
Council and I assumed that your salary as the Director of Libraries would be far below that of the
Deans.” I asked him if he was disappointed with my performance. He said, “No, you do an
excellent job, including your work on the Council of Deans. I just assumed that a female and a
Library Director’s salary would be much less than the other Deans.” A few days later he
apologized to me after he sat in on a meeting with the President and the Attorney for the
University. I had been called in and was asked to help them resolve a major copyright issue that
they did not feel comfortable about responding to with a local art museum. I was familiar with
the art museum’s concern and had already done research that proved that the university held
the copyright for the art work (it was photographic work) done by a deceased artist who had
worked at one time for the art museum. However, he had given all of his photographic work to
the library, along with his copyright for the library to use as it saw fit. The art museum was not
familiar with that.
I gave the President a copy of the original letter from the artist/photographer. They sent a copy
to the museum and the art museum apologized and noted that they had not known that he had
turned over all of his photography and copyright to that photography to the libraries prior to his
death.
The President had called me in advance of the meeting and told me about the problem so I
came to the meeting prepared. The Provost was impressed and told me that he, too, was totally
unfamiliar with copyright laws and would not even have known where to find the information.
I had a similar problem at another university Library where I served as Director when a library
staff member was told by the Computer Center Director that the FBI wanted him to tell the
library staff member that the had to give a Department Head’s computer to the FBI because
they suspected his supervisor was involved in something illegal involving Muslims.
The Director of the Computer Center tried to get the staff member in the Library to unlock his
supervisor’s private office and take the computer to the office of the Computer Director. The
staff member did not have a key to his suprvisor’s office. He came to my office and said that
even if he had nown where to get a key he would have refused the request. He had left a note
for his supervisor to come to my office to meet him. When his supervisor returned to his office
he met us in my office. They both asked what to do. I told them that without a warrant for the
supervisor’s arrest the FBI could not do this, nor could the Computer Center Director.
I called the Computer Center Director and asked him what the FBI was accusing my staff
member of and he said, “The FBI thinks there is something about anthrax in his files.” The staff
supervisor heard me repeat this, and he said, “That is ridiculous. Ask the FBI agent to come over
19. and you come with me and I will show him all of my files. There is no such thing in my files.” So
I asked to speak to the FBI agent and asked him to come to the library and I and the staff
member he was accusing would take him to the staff member’s office so that he could check his
files. The FBI member said, “I will come to your office where I will question your staff member.
If I am satisfied with his answer, I will leave.” He came to my office and the staff member who
had been called and his supervisor stayed to meet the FBI member who showed us his badge.
He said that he had been told that the Staff Supervisor was “friends with Muslims.” The staff
member said, “We have many Muslims working and/or going to school on this campus. Many
work as student assistants in this library. Why do you think there would be something about
anthrax on my computer?” The FBI man said,“Well, now I understand that there probably is not
any such thing on your computer and your Library Director has supported your statement about
many Muslims working on this campus, taking courses in many classrooms, and that you have
many Muslim students working in the library. If I had known that I would never have
approached one of your staff members to unlock your office and bring me your computer to the
Computer Center.”
I excused the staff members and told them that need worry no longer. I then asked the FBI
member if he had any other reasons to do this behind my back as I was responsible for library
staff members, the Computer Center Director was not. He said, “The Library has a lot of
computers so I went to the Computer Center and asked the Computer Center Director what to
do and he suggested the we ask a lower level staff member to unlock the supervisor’s door and
take the computer out and bring it to the Computer Center, so that he, or one of his staff could
check it.” I asked, “Why did you select this person’s name?” He said, “Because I asked the
Computer Center Director who I thought would be responsible for the Library Computers and he
gave me this man’s name. I have been told to check this campus’ computers because of the
large Muslim population on the campus. However I am satisfied that you and your staff have
been very honest about the multiculturalism on this campus and I no longer have any concerns.”
When I asked him why he thought there was something about “anthrax” on a staff member’s
computer he just shook his head and said that was not his concern and not brought up by him. “
I still do not know if that was true but we never had another problem with the FBI after that in
that Library. The point of all this is that a Director’s staff must trust the Director, and the
Director must trust their staff members. My staff trusted me, particularly when situations such
as the above arose. They did not report to another Director. They would first come to me and
ask what to do in situations such as this. I always tried to support them. The Computer Center
Director should have called me. If the situation had been reversed, I would have called him
immediately, not asked one of his staff to unlock a staff member’s door and remove a computer
and bring it to me. I trusted my staff as much as they trusted me and tried to be as supportive
as possible. Good working relationships depend upon that. Integrity on both sides is very
important in working relationships between supervisors and workers.
I truly believe that a Library Director’s most important job is to keep all staff involved in decision
making, planning, and changes to occur in all of this. In addition all campus administrators,
20. every Dean, every faculty member, and all users must be aware of library plans in advance
through meetings, position papers, accessible on the Library’s Web site.
Library Directors and staff must be involved in every opportunity to participate in public
meetings so that all hear the same message. You must be willing to listen to concerns and adapt
to change in your plans as necessary to be certain that you gain the support you need to make
necessary changes and implement new and better organizations and resource changes that will
improve operations and library services. You need as much support as possible from all clientele
and administrators, staff, and others when implementing change that will affect everyone on
campus, and potential donors who should also have a voice.