Friends of the UNCG Libraries

David Arneke, Krystal Speights and Kathy Crowe University Libraries is pleased to announce Krystal Speights as the 2017 Outstanding Student Library Worker Award (OSLWA) winner! Speights is a graduate student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program in the School of Health and Human Sciences at UNCG. She has been working in Jackson Library for more than four years.  She currently serves as Student Manager in Access Services and is responsible for supervising other students, responding to chat and email requests on behalf of the Check Out Desk, opening and closing the library and reporting on service, facilities and security issues. “Krystal has a sunny nature and is always smiling and happy,” said Marilyn Hanichak, Desk Manager in Access Services and Speights' supervisor. “Krystal inspires others to do well. Her friendly attitude fosters sociable relationships among the students, which helps build the team. She encourages the students to rely on one another,...

I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as Interim Dean of the University Libraries.  I have been on the Libraries’ faculty since 1983 and have seen us grow and change over the years along with the University.  The Libraries are proud to serve as the information and learning hub for UNC Greensboro and the community with our excellent collections, learning spaces, and technology.  Our outstanding faculty and staff collaborate across the campus and in the community to develop instructional programs and resources.  We also offer interesting many exhibits and programs throughout the year.  The Libraries enjoy a reputation for encouraging and supporting innovation.  Here are some examples of our recent accomplishments: •    A collaboration with Provost Dana Dunn to provide stipends to 10 faculty to implement Open Educational Resources into their courses.  This initiative saved students a total of $150,000 during the fall 2015 seme...

Associate Dean Kathy Crowe has been named Interim Dean of University Libraries at UNCG, effective April 1.  She replaces Dean Rosann Bazirjian, who is retiring. In making the announcement of her appointment to the faculty and staff of the University Libraries, Provost Dana Dunn said, “My interactions with the members of the Library community around this process reinforce my view that UNCG is fortunate to have talented and dedicated faculty and staff members.   Kathy will work closely with Rosann Bazirjian over the next few months to facilitate the transition. I know she will also work collaboratively with other Library administrators to ensure that the Libraries continue along their trajectory of accomplishment.” Crowe came to UNCG in 1983 as a Reference Librarian and Bibliographic Instruction Coordinator and became Head of the Reference Department in 1996.  As Associate Dean since 2006, Kathy has been responsible for the development, delivery and assessment of...

Jenny Dale Kathy Crowe First Year Instruction Librarian Jenny Dale and Associate Dean Kathy Crowe led a webinar hosted by ACRL (the Association of College and Research Libraries) on Aug 26. In the webinar, they described their work supporting the development and implementation of High Impact Educational Practices on the UNCG campus.  This interactive webcast provided a review of research on how high impact practices foster student success nationally. Then, using learning communities (LCs) as a case study, it provided information on how LCs contribute to student retention and success, and recommended strategies for partnering with other campus units to promote high impact practices and then use the results to demonstrate the value and impact of the library on its campus.

Kathy Crowe has worked at the University Libraries at UNCG since 1983.   She is currently the Associate Dean for Public Service.   David is a scholar, researcher and writer.   He teaches history and law at Elon University. Together they have made a planned testamentary gift to benefit the University Libraries, where David also plans to give his papers to the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives. Their gift will endow two funds: (1) for professional development for the libraries staff and faculty; and (2) to ensure the growth of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives through acquisition and preservation of valuable records, books and manuscripts.   Income from the first endowment will be used to enhance professional development opportunities for the faculty and staff of the University Libraries.   Purposes for which funds might be used include but are not limited to provide funds f...

The following persons, together representing a century of service to UNCG, were recognized at the recent faculty and staff excellence awards ceremony Mary Jane Conger- 35 years Cindy Slater - 35 years Kathy Crowe - 30 years

The University Libraries' Kathy Crowe, along with Communication Studies Professor Jody Natalle, received UNCG's Student Learning Enhancement Award last year. This short video describes how they partnered together to improve students' information literacy and highlights the important role the University Libraries play in the assessment of learning outcomes.

The end of the academic year brought a series of awards and recognitions for a number of folks who serve in the University Libraries. Cheryl Cross has received the Martha Ransley Staff Service Award. Kathy Crowe was named the co-recipient of the 2012 Student Learning Enhancement Award from the UNCG Senate Student Learning Enhancement Committee. Beth Filar Williams has been elected Vice-Chair/Chair-elect of the University Libraries Section of ACRL, and Lynda Kellam was elected to the similar post of the Law and Political Science Section. Lois Barnes has received the Outstanding Student Worker Award, sponsored by Friends of the UNCG Libraries Board member David Arneke. Among the Library faculty, Amy Harris and Mac Nelson have received tenure, and Joe Williams has been reappointed. Twenty people received service award pins for their years of service , among them Fran Rubio with 40 years, Nancy Ryckman with 35, and Cindy Zaruba with 30.

University Libraries’ Associate Dean for Public Services Kathryn Crowe and Dr. Elizabeth Natalle from Communication Studies won the 2012 Student Learning Enhancement Award from the UNCG Senate Student Learning Enhancement Committee.   Crowe and Natalle’s study assessed information literacy skills in Communication Studies (CST) 300, a core course required of all CST majors. After identifying specific learning outcomes Crowe used a rubric to score a “real-life’ performance evaluation in the form of a worksheet.   After an initial pilot in 2009 indicated that students were not gaining needed skills several changes were made during subsequent semesters: (1) requiring students to take several modules of the Libraries’ online tutorial (2) delaying the library instruction session so that students have more time to develop their topics and absorb material from the tutorial (3) developing a tutorial on primary sources in Communication Studies.   The scores improved dramatically fo...