Oral History Interview with Kathryn Crowe, 2017

Brittany H.: My name is Brittany Hedrick and today is Tuesday, October 16, 2017. I'm in the Parrish Library with Katherine Crow to conduct an oral history interview for the UNCG Institutional Memory Collection. Thank you Mrs. Crow for participating in this project and sharing your experiences with me. I'd like to start the interview by asking you about your childhood. Could you tell me when and where you were born?

Katherine C.: I was born in 1953 and I was actually born in Washington, DC. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington in Annandale, Virginia. It was a wonderful place to grow up. It was with all the advantages of Washington. And the suburbs were infinitely less hectic and trafficking and expensive than than they are now. It's was a great place to grow up, but I'm very happy to be living in Greensboro as an, for most of my adult life.

Brittany H.: Okay. How about your family? Could you tell me about your family and your home life?

Katherine C.: Well, my parents, my mother was from Virginia. Very proud of being from the rural Virginia and my father grew up in, he grew up in, was born in Ohio, lived in southwest Virginia. And then when the Depression hit in the 30's his family moved around a lot and they ended up in Washington DC. So my parents met at GW, George Washington University. They were both night students. They met in English class. My Dad was an engineer, an electrical engineer, and he worked for the Navy as a civilian employee, served in the Navy in World War II, but then worked for his, most of his career for the Navy and was actually at the Pentagon. My mother was a homemaker. She worked off and on. One of her jobs was at a public library, and so that had a great deal for my inspiration to become a librarian.

Brittany H.: Did you have any brothers or your sisters?

Katherine C.: Yes, I have a sister and she still lives in Virginia. I had a brother and sadly we lost him to cancer in 2004 so that was a big loss for our family. But yes, my sister still lives in Virginia and has three children. I have five nieces and nephews.

Brittany H.: So where did you go to high school?

Katherine C.: I went to Annandale High School and I graduated in 1971. The high school is still there. It's a much different area now. It's very, very diverse. In fact, I think Annandale is known to have a very internationally diverse student body. It was a really good high school. I felt like I had a really 00:03:00excellent education there.

Brittany H.: What were your favorite subjects?

Katherine C.: Well the humanities, as many librarians. History was always my favorite subject. I also love English because I love to read, enjoyed literature. I liked social studies. Math and science were less favorite topics, subjects for me. So, but even as from a young child, I loved history. When I was quite young, my grandmother gave me some child biographies. And that, I think, was one part, one thing that really got me started on loving history and reading biographies.

Brittany H.: When did you graduate from high school? What year?

Katherine C.: 1971.

Brittany H.: Okay. Tell me about the journey from high school to college. Where did you go to college?

Katherine C.: I graduated from Randolph Macon College, which is in Ashland, 00:04:00Virginia. So it wasn't too far from my home. And of course I was a history major. From college I went to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana to get my Master's of Library Science degree. And I had a really wonderful experience there. It was very exciting to, for me, to be going from a very small college of less than 1,000 students to a huge university. And I just really enjoyed all the activities that were there and I really enjoyed my, getting my degree, my MLS degree.

Katherine C.: When I finished my degree, all of us baby boomers were looking for jobs, so it was hard to find a, well, a professional library position. So I worked for a little over a year still at IU in a staff position and then was able to get a temporary professional librarian position in the undergraduate 00:05:00library. And I had a great experience that year. Worked with some wonderful people and and learned a lot and really got started on my lifelong or career long interest in information literacy, which we called then bibliographic instruction. But I had gotten very interested in that while in school and then really enjoyed getting started on that while I was at IU. But it was a temporary position. So then I went to the University of Georgia for four years and worked in the reference department at the University of Georgia. And while I was there, I worked on my master's in history. So I got that degree from Georgia focusing on British history, wrote my on the Fabian Women's Group which was pre-World War 00:06:00I in England.

Katherine C.: Really, really enjoyed that when ... it was personally gratifying and also thought. I figured it would help me with my career to have that second master's degree. And then in 1983 I came here to UNCG.

Brittany H.: In 1983.

Katherine C.: Yes.

Brittany H.: Why did you decide to come and work at UNCG and did anyone tell you about UNCG or ...

Katherine C.: I really didn't know. I mean, I think I had one high school friend who had come here, but I really didn't know much about UNCG but I saw there was, the job was advertised and it was one I was very interested in. Coordinator, it was called as we call it then, bibliographic instruction coordinator. That really peaked my interest because that's what I wanted to do. I've been doing that at Georgia, but my job there are mostly focused on pure reference work, 00:07:00which at the time was very, very busy and I learned a lot about reference being at a big, big university.

Katherine C.: So that I got a lot of a great experience. But I really wanted to focus on what we now call information literacy so that real ... and also it was a little closer to my family. My parents were still alive of course, and they were still in the Washington DC area, so it was going to be a little closer to them. And I liked the size of UNCG, sounded, it was much smaller. And so I came for the interview and it just felt so comfortable and so right. And I was fortunate enough to be offered the position. So I came.

Brittany H.: So tell me about your first days on campus and was it what you had expected? Had you ever been to North Carolina before?

Katherine C.: Oh, I'd been to North Carolina. I've been to the beach and had 00:08:00passed through Greensboro going back and forth. One time we ended, I was with some friends going back, going to DC and we came back on 29 instead of going the interstate and we connected with 85 here and I was like, "Oh, okay." I thought that was so, it was kind of cosmic. I just remember feeling really at home and that this was the right place for me to be. As I mentioned before, I really liked the size of UNCG because it was smaller. At the time there were about 10,000 students, so it was just one, you could really get to know the faculty here and the reference department. There were lots of people my age and so it was very welcoming socially for me as well, and I just enjoyed making friends. I 00:09:00really liked, Greensboro. It was bigger than Athens, Georgia, where I'd been living so, and more, not just a college town.

Katherine C.: So there was just more to do and it was more interesting to me and the work ended up being being really gratifying. It just felt right from day one and continued to feel right for all these many years.

Brittany H.: I'm sure that you haven't held the same position throughout the years. So what all positions have you held and what were the job requirements and what was your role in those positions?

Katherine C.: As I said, when I first came, I was the instruction coordinator and I, everyone was really receptive to some of the projects and things that I wanted to do both in the library and on campus. So I did that and was still, and 00:10:00was a reference librarian as well. Another thing I really liked about UNCG is that librarians had faculty status. That also provided the opportunities to be more engaged on campus with committees and all sorts of other activities.

Katherine C.: So I did that until the mid '90s and the librarian who had been head of the reference department decided to go back and not be head anymore and she stepped down. And so I applied for, to be head of the reference department. And so I was fortunate enough to get that position and so that put me into a management role in addition to, so, and so it was still being a reference librarian and active on campus. But so now I was in a management role and I did 00:11:00that until 2005. And we had a new dean, Roseanne Busierjon came in 2004 and our associate dean left the library. So she asked me to be interim associate dean. And I did that for about a year.

Katherine C.: And then the position was sort of reconfigured into associate dean for public services. And so again, I was fortunate enough to get that position and started that in 2006 and so that's the role I still have. And so I super, I, the public service units report to me, the Schiffman Music Library, the DMC which we created in 2012, the reference department. And for a while the, and for most of my time the access services department, which is circulation reserves 00:12:00reported to me. It doesn't at this time. Just because we've made some changes. And then last year for about 15 months I was also the Interim Dean of the Libraries when Roseanne Busierjon retired and we had had long interim period while we searched for our current dean, Dr. Martin Halbert. So I was very pleased and honored to serve in that role. And then I was very glad to get back to being public services.

Katherine C.: Another big part of my role is doing assessment. So I coordinate assessment for the library. So that means doing surveys and focus groups and all other types of assessment to make sure we're making decisions based on solid evidence and that we are making sure our services are meeting our goals and that 00:13:00we're providing the resources and services that we need to be providing for our students and faculty and for the community as well.

Brittany H.: Wow, so you stay really busy.

Katherine C.: Yeah. Yes.

Brittany H.: I do remember that you were history liaison at one point too, so ...

Katherine C.: Yes. We started having liaisons in the '90s and so I have been history laison on not continuously since then but for many years and I've loved being able to do that. It's been one of the ... One of my favorite parts of the job and I, to be able to use my history master's degree and to work with the students and work with the faculty and building the collection and also helping the students learn how to do their research and do it well and do it effectively. And I've also been liaison to the communication studies department 00:14:00and I enjoyed that too. Another piece of my job is marketing and working with our marketing director too. I focus with her marketing our services and resources on campus so that hopefully our students, faculty know all the things that are, many things that are available to them.

Brittany H.: So what social and academic events stand out in your mind during your time at UNCG? I know that the faculty are definitely very ... I know that they hold a lot of social events. Are there any that really stand out in your mind in the library?

Katherine C.: Social events? I don't think of really social events that stick 00:15:00out to me. I mean we have some fun social events in the library. We always, every year we have a holiday lunch and our retirees come back and that's a really very nice event. We're good about having parties to celebrate things and milestones and events like that. The academic events, I think, been involved in, there've been, well, a lot at UNCG, they've, we've added lots of PhD programs. There's just been so much growth, of course. We're double the size that we were, when I came and so many things have grown. So many more people.

Katherine C.: We don't see faculty is, with all the online resources, which I think are wonderful. Well we don't see faculty because they don't have to come 00:16:00in. They used to all come into the library because they had to and we got to know everybody and so now we don't as much because they don't have to be here because so much is available to them online. And because we're bigger, we don't know everybody as much as ... so it's a larger community. I don't want to say it's unfriendly, but it's just not as cozy and intimate as it as it once was.

Katherine C.: I think some of the recent things that I ... there are so many more services for students and so many wonderful opportunities for students, for leadership and for all kinds of involvement. And I think that's just, that's really wonderful for students. Certainly when I was in college, there weren't those types of opportunities. Study abroad. And I think recently, I'm so pleased 00:17:00to see lots, emphasis on the diversity on campus and the outreach and work for LGBTQ students and faculty and in promoting diversity, making sure we have a diverse campus both students and faculty. I think that's really gratifying.

Brittany H.: And I guess my next question kind of branches off all of that. Tell me about your involvement in UNCG activities, if ...

Katherine C.: I've been able to be quite involved and that's been an important part of working, another reason I really like being at UNCG. One, I've been on many senate committees and chaired several. I know a chaired the University Teaching and Learning Center Committee, the committee on committees and I was 00:18:00Chair of the Faculty Senate in 2007 and 2008 so that was a really great experience to be able to be at the top, interact with the chancellor and the provost. See the university at that level. That was something new for me.

Katherine C.: I was involved in one of the gen ed curriculum revisions in the '90s and that was, again, a really, it was a very, so interesting to be involved at that level to be involved and I really wanted to make sure that information literacy was more a part of the gen ed curriculum. It didn't get quite as included as I would've liked, but it was a step and we've continued to make these steps and that was another reason I was eager to be the associate dean for 00:19:00public services because I really wanted to be at a higher level job and to try to have more influence in the curriculum and to integrate information literacy into, more thoroughly into the curriculum.

Brittany H.: Have you done any community work during your time here?

Katherine C.: I have to say, I haven't been too involved in the community. I've been in a choral society, Greensboro Choral Society and in fact that's where I met my husband, in Greensboro Choral Society and I am in my church in church choir. So that's been my main community involvement.

Brittany H.: Interesting. You mentioned the, how you could just, you could become very close with everyone in the library so are there any colleagues who 00:20:00have made an impression on you?

Katherine C.: Well, there's so many. I've just had so many wonderful colleagues. I don't want to leave anybody out, so, but I'll say that we've been so fortunate at the library that we've had really good directors and deans. Not every place can say that. And we've just been so lucky. Dr. Jim Thompson who hired me was special. He was also historian and he was instrumental in really building a great collection. And then Doris Hulbert who succeeded him was an important mentor to me and really helped me so much in my career, helped me grow. And then when she retired, Rosanne Busierjon came and she was also a really good mentor 00:21:00to me and helped me so much and helped me grow even more.

Katherine C.: And she was very supportive of all the librarians to be more active professionally. And so that's when I began really doing more publishing and presenting and being involved in professional organizations, library organizations, both statewide and nationwide, and even had the chance to travel abroad to, for professionally and present in other countries. And now I think we'll be, with Martin Halbert, I think we'll be moving forward even more. He has been a dean already at another library and so I think he's going to bring us some very exciting initiatives for the library and for UNCG.

Brittany H.: And I know that you obviously get to interact with students very 00:22:00often. So any memorable moments throughout the years?

Katherine C.: Well, I don't as much as I used to because when I was working as a reference librarian for so many years and that was, I always enjoyed that. As much as I loved history, I knew I didn't want to be behind the scenes, I wasn't interested in being an archivist or being behind, always behind the scenes. And of course, archivists now are, don't do that. They're really out there doing what you're doing right now in oral histories and lots of instruction. But I always knew I wanted to be interacting with people and helping students. So now I don't as much, but I do, I work with, primarily with student government now and particularly trying to market the library and get the word out and make sure the students know what services are available to them. I can't think of any real 00:23:00memorable moments, but just enjoying working. Working one on one with students and in groups and teaching.

Brittany H.: Well, how have the students changed since you arrived? I know you did mention diversity, but do you see anything really in particular that has changed throughout time?

Katherine C.: So our work has changed. We're not answering the little detailed questions or quick information questions anymore. So we interact with them very differently, doing more in depth consultations and less of the quick answers. So that's changed quite a bit and we see, but we are very busy in the library. Students are flocking into the library to use the building, to use the 00:24:00technology. That's been a big change in library, in academic libraries. There was a time when we thought, "Well, with everything going online, they're not going to come in here anymore because they don't need to." But they are coming not to use the materials so much, but to be there to study alone, to use the technology for the ... all of our different groups studies and because there's so many group assignments, so that's something that's really different.

Katherine C.: It's really exciting to walk around and see and all of the ... and we started allowing several years ago, we started allowing food and drink. We gave up. And that has helped too because they can bring their snack and they can bring their cup of coffee and they can and bring their lunch or dinner and stay in the library. They don't have to leave to go get something to eat or drink. 00:25:00And then we developed the digital media commons and so students come to learn how to make videos and good PowerPoint presentations, posters and all those different types of media. We're just really busy and they need us for that. They don't all have the software they need or the types of equipment that they need personally. So that's been a big change. That's not so much a change in the students, but how they use the library has really changed. So those are the big things I've noticed.

Brittany H.: Yeah. Well, I know personally, I'm very glad that there are a lot more ebooks now than there used to be. I know that that makes it ...

Katherine C.: Oh, yes. I think all of the technology is ... I think when it first started in the 90's some people were sort of moaning the loss of books and 00:26:00the card catalog. I have no nostalgia for the card catalog at all. But I just found it so wonderful how much more we can offer to people and then it can be at their fingertips. And the ebooks is a great example because you don't have, if you need a book at three in the morning, you can get it. It's there for you.

Katherine C.: One class I used to work with a lot was a political science class on elections and the professor, each student had to pick a state and follow the, both of the state elections in the congressional elections senate. And it was before everything was available online. It was really hard for them to find information. Often they had to actually subscribe to a major newspaper for a few 00:27:00months to get this print newspaper so they can find, get information. And then of course now there's so much information, they're absolutely overwhelmed. That was just one example of how things have changed and how much it was really, it was more fun, really. It was a lot more fun than to work with them and to show that and to explain that to students.

Brittany H.: Well, what do you like most about working at UNCG?

Katherine C.: Well, I think, just kind of repeating what I've said before, but I just have liked ... being able to be involved across campus and to have those opportunities just makes it feel, makes me feel and makes the library more part of the whole campus. Being in the senate, as I said, when I first came, it was 00:28:00small, so we really did get to know everybody. So having that respect for the library on the campus and just, we recently had a workshop in the library and that was, that's what so many of us said that we just love the people here and that we all loved being able to work with so many different people and to really be involved in the campus and not be isolated in our building just with ourselves.

Brittany H.: Have there been any challenges that you've faced in your work?

Katherine C.: Well, when you're in management, there's always challenges. So personnel is, can always be a challenge. It's a good one. So of course, obviously I don't want to give any specific situations. So that's always a 00:29:00challenge. And it's hard to make changes. Change is difficult for people. We all get comfortable with the way things are and the way things have been. So learning how to make those changes and learning how to express a vision to articulate a vision and then to work with people to try to bring everybody along in a way that makes them involved so it's not top down. Those are always challenges, I think, in any management or leadership position. And I mentioned earlier the changes in libraries, which I have seen as opportunities, not challenges, but really opportunities to do so much more and to be able to provide so much more to people.

Brittany H.: Have there been any accomplishments that you are particularly proud?

Katherine C.: I'm very proud of, was very proud of being the senate chair in about, so it's been about 10 years now. I'm very pleased that the work been able to do to implement more, to implement information literacy into the curriculum more thoroughly. And we have so many wonderful librarians in, at the University Libraries that work on that and have been, as I've been able to hire people to look for librarians that have expertise and interest in information literacy. We've come a long way and with the folks that we have, I know that we'll continue to do that. I've been pleased with the work I've been able to do with 00:31:00assessment and have been involved with faculty on, with some teaching faculty on doing several projects. I've had the chance to go to present at many conferences and write on assessment. I have very much enjoyed that. I'm pleased that we have so many students in the library and the work we've done with our building.

Katherine C.: We would love to have an addition, but we've not, for many reasons, we've not been able to do that or have had a good, a really thorough renovation. We've done the best we can with what we have and the students are there and they are taking advantage of what we have to offer them. So those are some of the ... More recently I've enjoyed being on the advisory council for the 00:32:00Library and Information Science, Library and Information Studies Department and I am, like having that interaction with helping future librarians and working with them.

Brittany H.: I hope I'm not making you repeat yourself too much, but I wanted to ask you how UNCG has impacted and affected your life. Is there anything ...

Katherine C.: Well very so. When I moved here in 1983 I don't think I had any idea I'd still be here all these years later, almost 35 years. It was the right place for me and it has been very supportive. I've just had great support for, in my career. I have been fortunate that there were opportunities to grow and 00:33:00move up when I was ready for them. I think this University's a really good one. It's unique. And personally, I just really liked Greensboro. Like the size of Greensboro. Of course, it's grown too since I moved here, but I met my husband here and we've really, and we've made our life here together and so that's, of course, personally extremely important to me as well.

Brittany H.: Have you had any interactions with our chancellors? Chancellor Moran, Sullivan, Brady and our new chancellor, Franklin Gilliam?

Katherine C.: The one I interacted the most was Chancellor Sullivan because she was chancellor when I was senate chair. Unfortunately that's the year she got ill, but so I didn't get to work with her as much as I would've liked, but she 00:34:00was really special. She did so much for the university. Really brought us, brought the university along and improved it. Helped pass that bond issue. So many of our buildings were, if not built while she was here, at least developed and created while she was here.

Katherine C.: She was just, personally, a very lovely human being. Always wrote thank you notes and handwritten thank you notes if you did anything. And everybody I know that has them treasures, keeps them in treasures them. I'm sure there are many in the archives as well, so she's the one I worked with the most. I did get to interact as, when I was interim dean last year with Chancellor Gilliam. I think he is really going to move this university forward. He's got so much energy and and really great ideas I think is a giant steps and big ideas 00:35:00are going to be quite advantageous for UNCG.

Brittany H.: I guess that leads me to my next question. We're doing these interviews as part of the 125th anniversary of the University, which is an excellent opportunity for reflection, but it also helps us to think about where we are heading in the future. So what do you think the future is for UNCG and where do you see UNCG going as an institution in the next 25 to 50 years?

Katherine C.: I think it will build on its traditions. Woman's College starting out as a teacher's college. A strong regional university, and that, it's a tradition of having a very diverse student body. And so I think it will really 00:36:00continue to build on that. We have an excellent faculty and the student can come here and get a ... if they work hard and take advantage of all the opportunities, they can get a really excellent education.

Katherine C.: I think it will continue to grow. I think with Chancellor Gilliam we will become more part of the community. I think that's been something that could be, can be improved is to really be part of the Greens-, Guilford County and this area's community. So I think that's something that we're going to see more of and yeah, it'll be, it's hard to make too many predictions because I think higher education's going to be changing so much. We'll be offering more distance education. I think there, of course, challenges because of a decrease 00:37:00in funding and so it's hard to make too many predictions.

Katherine C.: I mean, there seems to be a lot of challenges. Well, on the one hand you really need a degree in order to have a good career and to be successful. But then there's a lot of pushback against higher ed because something needs to be more practical. I don't know. I think it's going to be hard, difficult. But I think UNCG will continue to survive and not just survive but grow and improve. It's always had trouble finding its exact niche. So I think it was getting there with Chancellor Sullivan, with the recession and some other external things that we sort of, we had a difficult period. I think with 00:38:00Chancellor Gilliam we're going to find finding our niche and so I sure hope so.

Brittany H.: I don't think I have any more formal questions for you but did you have anything that you'd like to add about your time here? Any experiences that perhaps you forgot to mention or we didn't cover?

Katherine C.: I think this is a special place. I'm not unusual, at least in the library of people that have come and stayed for many, many years. And I think that shows it is a really great place to work and a great place to be and a great place to live. I feel very fortunate and very honored to have been able to be here all these years and hopefully make a contribution.

Brittany H.: Well, we're fortunate to have you.

Katherine C.: Thank you.

Brittany H.: Thank you so much. It was great to interview you.

Katherine C.: It's a pleasure.