(Guest post by LAMC Associate Director Kat Ryner)

With mixed emotions we report that Carol Morris retired this summer after 22 years staffing the library circulation desk. While we’ll miss her good cheer and her dependability (imagine working 4 pm until past midnight, 5 days a week, for over 20 years!) we’re happy for Carol as she begins to enjoy her retirement with her husband on the water down in Ridge.

The embodiment of a life-long learner, Carol took many art classes here over the years. Professor of Art Sue Johnson points out that not only is Carol a gifted artist, but her presence in classes elevated every student’s work. Through the many relationships she’s developed with students, staff, and faculty, Carol inspires everyone who knows her.

Students will remember her kindness and her reassuring presence in the library most nights, and of course the way in which she announced the closing of the building at the end of the night. As quoted in a 2014 Point News article “Students Voice Appreciation for Campus Library,” Carol “reached super-star status through “The Library’s Closing Song,” in which she graces every square-inch of the three-story building with a decree that the battle of homework is over, that it’s time to finally call it quits.” A student in the article stated, “I think it should be the anthem of the whole college. It is one of the sweetest sounds that you can hear at night… It’s the swan song that makes you reconsider the decision to pull an all-nighter. I’ve never seen her, I’ve just heard her song. She’s an ethereal creature to me.”

Thank you, Carol, for your years of dedicated service. We miss you!