Sitting in a Steely Library classroom before five soon-to-be-retired librarians who have been cleverly dubbed the “ladies of the library” to honor their concerted exodus, the meeting felt more like a get-together for the group to reminisce and trade praises about their time at Northern Kentucky University than a joint interview. 

The five faculty members have each worked at Steely Library for over a decade—or multiple for some. They’ll be closing the cover on their time at NKU at the end of this semester. All have made outsize contributions to developing Steely Library into the learning and resource center it is for students today. 

The group of librarians show the variety of expertise that is necessary to keep a library operating smoothly, but a commitment to NKU—its students especially—is the common thread between them. 

Associate Dean of Collections Lois Schultz has spent 45 years at NKU; the same is true for Collections Analysis Librarian Nancy Campbell; Teaching and Learning Librarian Mary Chesnut’s tenure totals 35 years; Student Success Librarian Laura Sullivan has devoted 39 years to the university; and the newbie that can hardly be considered one is Archivist Lois Hamill, who has been at the university for 16 years. 

Their paths to NKU differed. For the majority of them, the post they took at NKU was a promotion or a provided opportunity for advancement. Sullivan had experience as a librarian at Wright State University but went back to school to earn a Master’s of Communication at the University of Cincinnati—a detour that eventually led her back to a library, but NKU’s this time. 

Chesnut’s journey to becoming a full professor was circuitous despite being at NKU long before assuming a position at Steely Library. She worked in multiple staff positions at NKU over several years—as a University Police dispatcher, Activities Programming Board coordinator and conference coordinator in Business Services—and was inspired by librarians to become one herself. She used the staff tuition waiver to pay her way to her Master’s of Library Science. 

Their lengthy tenures at the university have brewed the feeling that they grew up alongside the university. A handful of the buildings that make up the campus today stood when Schultz and Campbell arrived at the university: Regents Hall, Nunn Hall, Founders Hall, Landrum Academic Center, Steely Library, Fine Arts Center and University Center. As the campus expanded, so did the student body. 

“45 years ago, this was a different university,” mused Schultz.

While much has changed in NKU’s bubble, perhaps the most pervasive change this bunch witnessed was the rise of the World Wide Web, which revolutionized how Steely Library operates. Information literacy rapidly became dependent on digital know-how, and the librarians took on the challenge of acquiring and storing materials digitally as well helping students navigate an increasingly complex tapestry of information. 

“We would take them back to a book and reference, and then about a year or two later, everything was online and we helped them online,” said Chesnut, who said she became a librarian in 2002, a year or so before the sweeping takeover of internet sources. 

The librarians agreed that students often come needing guidance to grasp what exactly their assignments are asking them to do, even if they themselves don’t quite realize their misdirection. Once that is sorted out, they can narrow down the available resources to find appropriate information and package it into a final product. This process can sometimes start as a simple question that quickly spirals into a one-on-one consultation, an offering that Campbell feels students truly appreciate. 

“People think now there’s so much information available, why would they need us? But that’s the flaw. There’s so much information and how you get to things that are useful and suitable for what they’re looking for,” said Campbell. “Part of what we do is help students understand the research process, not just find their work. We want them to be able to do this again on their own,” added Hamill.

Multiple university outreach initiatives have been produced by Steely Library in the group’s time at NKU, which enmesh the library’s mission in the wider university. The library has helmed GEARUP, an information literacy campaign where librarians train academic faculty to impart responsible and effective information gathering techniques to students. Steely Library has collaborated with University Connect and Persist to create a textbook lending program. And the Writing Center, a free student tutoring resource,  is available to students in the library. 

“We try to make it kind of a one-stop shop as much as we can,” said Campbell. 

The librarians expressed sometimes feeling overlooked as educators, something they believe is inherently built into their student-centered work. But most of them have experience leading classrooms nonetheless. Schultz and Chesnut both have taught students directly in library-focused degree programs. Schultz, Chesnut, Campbell and Sullivan have all taught staff certification programs. Hamill has consistently been invited to guest lecture about how her profession—archiving and organizing swaths of information—intersects with disciplines across campus.

As faculty members, they’ve also served on curriculum committees alongside academic faculty to design courses and determine what types of resources the library needs to inventory to enhance learning outcomes.

“The way to the student is through the faculty member, because they’re not going to come just on their own,” said Schultz.

Four of the five librarians opted to take the voluntary severance package offered to faculty last year, a program leveled to help the university slash over 100 faculty positions to combat a budget shortfall of over $24 million. Hamill, who did not participate in the incentive, decided to tag along with the rest, citing that frustration with library leadership, the withdrawal of multiple colleagues and the recent retirement of her partner made it feel like the time was right.

With the wise group’s departure looming, it’s clear that a notable chunk of institutional knowledge will leave with them. According to Hamill, the five librarians will have their spots filled with non-tenure track positions. Steely Library will have seven librarians in the interim, she said. 

While they’re glad that newcomers will fill their shoes and that the new positions will be tweaked to reflect modern operational needs, they worry that the less stable outlook of non-tenure track positions could lead to transience in the new personnel. They have faith in the next crop of librarians, though. 

“They’re not going to be us, let’s face it,” teased Chesnut. “Well, we love NKU,” emphasized Sullivan. “They would have been who we were when we walked through the doors,” proclaimed Hamill.