THE PENDULUM
NEWS
PAGE6//WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21. 2011 ^ 1
Personal Librarian program introduced for freshmen
to set accustomed to the new exceptional ^
Hal Rhorer
Reporter
Belk Library is offering a new Personal
Librarian program for students. The
service assigns a librarian on staff to
every Elon 101 class. Intended to aid
students with research, writing and
all things library-related, the program
establishes a relationship with students
that the Belk staff hopes will continue
to grow for the rest of the students
careers at Elon.
The program is up and running
this year with positive feedback thus
far. Lynne Bisko, a nonprint librarian,
is leading the program and is one
of the 15 personal librarians. Bisko
researched and spearheaded the idea
after hearing about its success at a few
other universities.
“We thought it would be a good fit
for Elon and that it would be a great
program to start based on the benefits
that would come from it and the reaction
from the students,” she said. “We just
thought it was a really great idea.”
New Student Orientation and Elon
101 classes helped publicize the new
endeavor by
introducing the
service during
orientation
sessions and
inviting the
personal
librarians to
come and speak
about the service.
All freshmen
also received
an email from
their personal
librarians informing
program.
Freshman Gina Apperson first
heard about the personal librarians in
her Elon 101 class, where she and her
classmates took a trip to the library
with their personal librarian. Shannon
“When you're in college, you
want as many things to help
you succeed and utilizing this
resource is greatly beneficial to
you.”
-Casey Brown
CLASS OF 2015
them of the
Tennant, to get accustomed to the new
building. „ .
“She gave us an overview ot the
library, sort of an orientation, and we
did a scavenger
hunt,” Apperson
said. “I’ll use
the program for
finding sources
that I would
need for papers
and any other
random things
I need in the
library.”
Although
the program is
new to Elon, the
personal librarian staff at Belk Library
seems positive that the students in the
program will find the service useful.
Patrick Rudd, coordinator of access
services and assistant professor, is
also a personal librarian and said he
has found the student response to be
exceptional.
“I’ve been actually surprised at the
response,” he said. “We get asked a
variety of questions and respond to all
kinds of needs.”
Freshman Casey Brown has already
met her personal librarian and started
using the program. Brown has been
very impressed with the program and
encourages her fellow students to take
advantage of the service.
“If you’re really serious about getting
help or you are not too proud to say 'Oh,
I’m having trouble and I need some help,’
it’s a really good program,” she said. “I
am going to continue to use it because
it’s worked for me so far. When you’re in
college, you want as many things to help
you succeed and utilizing this resource
is greatly beneficial to you.”
Freshmen aren’t the only students
included in the program. All Elon
students are welcome to request a
personal librarian at the Belk Library
information desk.
tnatwouiacometromuaiiuiiicica>.ii>jii i ■ ■ ■ ■
University librarian reflects on 15 years at Elon prior to departure
^ Kr.r.Vc awarp of the needs of her librarv staff
Rachel Southmayd
Opinions Editor
This time next
year, there will be
one fewer familiar
face around the
shelves of Belk
Library. Kate
Hickey, dean of
Library Services and
university librarian,
has announced she
will retire at the end
of this academic year, her 15th working
at Elon University.
HICKEY
Hickey arrived at Elon in 1996, just
after the architects for the new library
had been selected. Since then, quite a
bit has changed and she has been there
for it all.
“It’s a profession that has not been
dull for a minute," she said. “You never
know who’s going to walk through
those doors and what they’re going to
need.”
Hickey said the theme at Elon while
she's been here has been “growth with
a capital G,” even in the library. In
the last few years especially, she said
there has been major shift from print
to electronic technology, and librarians
who were trained in organizing books
now must learn everything from Web
design to program operation.
And the library doesn’t offer just
school-related books, but also includes
an ever-increasing number of DVDs,
ebooks, audio books and fiction.
“That’s been a lot of fun and a
challenge,” she said.
Teresa LePors, coordinator of library
public services, said Hickey has been up
to the challenge these last 15 years.
“She’s great,” Le Pors said. “She has
an open-door policy so you feel like you
can always talk to her.”
Le Pors also said Hickey is a very
aware of the needs of her library staff
and university students. Senior Kristen
Van Fleet, a library assistant, said
Hickey will be missed.
“She’s a good director," she said.
When Hickey’s retirement begins
June 1, 2012, she said she is looking
forward to resting and traveling with
her husband.
“I’m looking forward to flexibility
more than anything else," she said.
A committee has been formed to
search for her replacement, Hickey said,
and that whoever comes in next year
will find a great group of people to work
with on the library staff.
Founder of Elon Academy aimes to increase access to education
Caitlln O'Donnell
News Editor
Each year, Deborah Long must
complete what she calls a “terrible
task.” Working with a team to review
about 100 applications from low-income
high school freshmen in the Alamance
County community, she must select
about 60 to invite in for interviews
before eventually selecting 26 to join
other scholars in the Elon Academy.
“It’s really hard,
so hard," she said.
Since 2007, Long
has served as the
director of the Elon
Academy, a college-
access program she
helped develop. But
Long’s experience
with issues of access
^ to education did not
long originate with her
involvement with
the Academy.
Raised in a family of five children —
four girls and one boy — Long was the
only girl who went to college.
“I can identify with students who
come from families where the siblings
didn’t go to college,” she said. “My
mother and father did but they didn’t
encourage us to go to college. I identify
with students who maybe don’t have
as much encouragement from home as
some of their peers.”
An Unexpected Calling
After graduating in 1970 from Colby
College with a degree in psychology,
Long said she was unable to find a job.
She came to North Carolina on a whim
with a friend, rented an apartment and
began waitressing.
It was then that Long discovered
Teacher Corps, a now-nonexistent
program similar to the Peace Corps, that
provided federal funding for students
to work toward a master’s degree while
being mentored and teaching in a low-
income area.
“When I heard that someone might
finance my education, 1 thought, ‘Maybe 1
do want to think about being a teacher,’"
she said. “The idea was that 1 didn’t want
to be a waitress for the rest of my life
so I’m going to take advantage of this
opportunity and maybe it will work out
and maybe it won’t, but what do I have
to lose?"
She entered the two-year program in
1971 and taught in a low-income area in
Virginia. It was there that she fell in love
with teaching and, most importantly,
her interactions with students and their
families.
“1 felt what I was doing was important
and making a contribution, which is
what I wanted,” she said. “I work with
students who are underserved and go to
under-resourced schools."
Foundations for a Teaching Philosophy
After graduating from Teacher Corps,
Long taught for three years in Durham
schools before moving to South Carolina
and eventually Arkansas with her
husband, putting her teaching career on
hold and planning to start a family.
It was there that she was exposed
to the Montessori system of teaching
that would later define the structure of
the Elon Academy. Though she did not
teach in the classroom, she was active
in the Montessori School her students
attended.
Originating in Italy, the program
was developed by Maria Montessori
who wanted to provide education for
children living on the streets. The
curriculum is highly structured and
based on the individual learning styles
of each student.
“Students in the Elon Academy are on
all different levels socially, emotionally,
academically," she said. “They come in
as unique people, there is no average
kid. In public schools, you are forced to
teach to the average student. With these
students, you’re able to individualize
more and understand each student,
what they need and how to structure
their environment.”
In 1986, Long re-entered the
classroom when Lyon College in
Arkansas asked her join the faculty as
an adjunct professor.
“I absolutely loved college teaching,"
she said. “I loved my students, I loved
the environment, it was stimulating and
exciting.”
Though her children were still
young at the time. Long said she
realized that if she wanted to remain
in higher-education, she needed to get
her doctorate. She began taking classes
part time at the University of Memphis,
a two and a half hour commute from
her home, while also teaching full-time
at the College. After eight years, she
earned a doctorate in curriculum and
instruction.
Discovering a Life’s Passion
In 1996, Elon University was brought
to Long’s attention when a colleague at
Lyon mentioned a job opening. While
she had never heard of then Elon College,
she decided to look into it.
While visiting
her daughter at
Duke University,
she received a call
from the college
asking her to
come in for an
interview. Without
dress clothes,
teaching materials
or her research,
she decided to go
for it.
“When I
applied, it was just
an idea, an opportunity but I would be
fine whether I got it or not," she said.
“Then I got here and I fell in love with
Elon and really wanted the job. I thought
this was exactly the place for me, with
an emphasis on teaching, community
support, service. All of those things
really resonated with me."
After a long wait, she found out she
got the job and moved to Elon in 1996.
In 2002, she was named the department
chair for education, a position she held
until 2006, the same year President Leo
Lambert called Long into his office with
a proposition that would change the rest
of her life.
“Cummings High School had been
threatened with closure and President
Lambert was concerned with what Elon
was doing for the local community," she
said.
Lambert asked Long to serve as
the faculty administrative fellow
and assistant to the president during
the development of a college-access
program for local high school students
that he wanted to see fully functional in
one year’s time.
A Mother of Many
Long said her own experience
growing up in family that offered little
support influenced her interactions
today with students and their families,
many of who did not attend college and
don’t understand the process.
“I have a tremendous amount of
respect for families,” she said. “Being
poor doesn’t equal lazy and people make
the assumption that if people worked
hard enough, they could get ahead. I’ve
seen it and it's not true. Some of the
people I see worked harder than anyone
I know just to make ends meet."
Perhaps the most significant
influence on Long's work with the Elon
Academy
“I want for these students what
I wanted for my own children.
I think about the interactions,
whether to be firm, supportive.
Do they need a hug or do they
need a little boost? It's the same
with your own children."
-Deb Long
FOUNDER OF THE ELON ACADEMY
has been
her personal
experiences as
a mother.
“I want for
these students
what 1 wanted
for my own
children," she
said. “1 think
about the
interactions,
whether
to be firm,
supportive, do they need a hug or do
they need a little boost? It’s the same
with your own children.”
Long typically tells people she has
100 children: three that are biologically
her own and the 97 students she has
worked with through the academy.
“Even when I have tough
conversations, I always tell them I
wouldn’t have this conversation if
care about them. I’d just turn away, she
said. “I always look at each child as if I m
talking to my own child. WTiat would
want someone else to be saying to my
child?"
Phases of the Hem Academy
Phase 1: Cottege Access - focuses on
increasing aspirations and providing
pathways
I%ase 2: Transitions to College
- college writing course with a
three-day retreat and one-day family
program
Hiase 3: College Success - focuses on
ensuring college success with on-
campus visits, emergency funds an
contact at home
Hiase 4: Alumni Program - focuses
on establishing a networic of suppor
for alumni and their famUies during
college years and beyond