Hilda C. Landers Library, Archives & Media Center

Please welcome Melissa Johnson to the role of Customer Services Supervisor in the Library. Since September 2018, you may have seen Melissa at the Circulation Desk. Stop by and say hi if you haven’t met her yet!

As a native Marylander and resident of St. Mary’s County since 1989, I am so please to join the SMCM Library staff. I am a 2002 graduate of Salisbury University with a BA in 2-Dimensional Design with a crippling fear of showing her work! And what does an artist do when this is the case? You go into retail! So far, my career has centered around customer service and retail management, where I was the Assistant Manager at our local Old Navy for 4.5 years. This is where I became interested in training and developing employees, not only being their resource for company policy and procedure, but a teacher of many life skills. After 15+ years in retail, I decided to switch gears and find a career that is more people focused and not driven by the ol’ mighty $ (and there was no way I would survive another Black Friday/Holiday Season in retail!). Now, I am excited to share my knowledge base and skills with the SMCM community.

One of the greatest things about working at the SMCM Library is being surrounded by books! I’m hoping my new work environment will prompt me to read more of the books that fill my house and not just add to the ever growing reading list that I have compiled throughout the years. It has also sparked my interest in learning (in the classroom, that is, ‘cause you’re always learning!) and I hope to continue my education both professionally and personally. In my spare time, spend time with my friends and family, I watch A LOT of tv and movies (Prime Video is my friend) and try to get away from home to explore new places when I can. I have also rediscovered my interest in photography and am looking forward to taking pictures of this beautiful campus and the surrounding area.

Please welcome our Visiting Teaching and Learning Librarians Jillian Sandy and William Crowell!

About Jillian Sandy 

As an Ohioan, I am excited to be part of the St. Mary’s community and enjoy your pleasant East Coast weather (ha)! So far, he campus has been a great environment for me as someone who takes joy in the natural landscape and swings. Before SMCM, I worked in several public libraries in the Dayton area, then made the transition to academic libraries at the University of Dayton. There, I discovered how much I enjoy working and learning with students at the college level. Here at SMCM, I am a Visiting Teaching & Learning Librarian, and will focus much of my time and energy on information literacy instruction for
Core classes. I also serve as the liaison for the departments of Anthropology, Educational Studies, Psychology, and Sociology. I welcome questions about my cat, Bertha Mason!

About William Crowell

William holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida, and a Master of Arts in Media Theory and Research from Southern Illinois University. His research interests include:

• digital librarianship
• information and media literacy
• web archiving
• data librarianship
• animation and media history
• video games
• esports

As a Teaching and Learning Librarian, William is responsible for teaching information literacy seminars to St. Mary’s CORE 101 students, as well as helping students access resources and conduct research in the library.

(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!