6 minute read
Happy Returns
New dean Kathleen Schmand comes full circle to her library roots
story by Gina Logue and photography by Andy Heidt
When Kathleen Schmand was a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, her father invited her to spend Thanksgiving with him in Murfreesboro, telling her she had to see Middle Tennessee State University during her visit.
Schmand’s father, a Navy veteran, had moved to Murfreesboro in 1995 because of his interest in the area’s Civil War history and access to the Alvin C. York Veterans Administration Medical Center.
As of January 2021, Kathleen Schmand is the new dean of MTSU’s James E. Walker Library. Although her father has died, Schmand said, she is delighted to be back in Murfreesboro.
“I know he would be so excited to see that I’ve circled back around and now landed at MTSU for a new position, and particularly a position as dean,” Schmand said.
Born in Pasadena, California, to parents trained as teachers, Schmand had something of a nomadic childhood, at least within the Golden State. In the 1970s, the family, including Schmand’s three brothers, moved first to Laguna Beach, which was relatively sleepy and undeveloped at the time.
“My cousin, Cindy, would come out and babysit us, and we’d go down to the beach,” Schmand recalled. “But then we’d hitchhike . . . to get back up to the top of the hill where the house was. We didn’t worry about it at that point.”
From there, the family picked up stakes and settled in Jackson, California, a smaller town which got a movie theater and its first fast-food restaurant while Schmand was growing up there.
“You knew everybody wherever you went,” Schmand remembered. “You knew all the clerks at the grocery store. You knew everybody at the bank. They knew who you were.”
Her father liked Jackson because it was rich in history.
“His historic love was gold mining, and he moved us pretty much into the center of gold mining history,” Schmand said.
Most of Schmand’s high school friends went to nearby Sacramento State University. She has returned to Jackson a few times since her parents passed away and still keeps in touch with some high school girlfriends. However, by the time she reached her teenage years, she was ready for new adventures.
Information Highway
The child of two University of Southern California alumni, Schmand followed suit, earning a degree in International Relations and Russian in 1993 with an eye on joining the Central Intelligence Agency.
Libraries have been a part of Schmand’s academic life ever since she was an undergraduate at USC. She worked in the library for four years as a student and took a staff position in the library after graduation.
“I loved the people, how the information was organized, what it meant to make sure that people have the right information,” Schmand said.
Working in the USC library turned her onto library science, and she veered away from the CIA. Schmand moved cross country to the University of Pittsburgh and obtained her M.L.S. degree within a year.
“I escalated everything and did five courses in the fall and five courses in the spring and then two six-week summer sessions, which included a legal research class and a six-week internship with the Carnegie Public Library,” Schmand said.
In 1996, Northern Arizona University hired her, and she moved back west. Schmand started as a shared resources/document delivery librarian and held a variety of positions over her 24 years there, including interim associate dean. She served as director of development and communications for the NAU library from 2006 until joining MTSU.
While attending an event at a Harley-Davidson dealership, Schmand met Cam, her future husband, through mutual friends.
Cam was waiting for a blind date, who showed up two hours late. After speaking with the woman for 10 minutes, Cam figured that the two of them were not a good match.
Since he had to catch a flight to Phoenix, he stopped to say goodbye, handed out his card, and mentioned to Schmand that his cell number was on the back. She called him, and they talked on and off for several days.
In June 2008, Cam and Kathleen were married at the rim of the Grand Canyon. Her family includes 32-year-old stepdaughter Alicia, stepgranddaughter Milo, a few pets, and several vintage vehicles.
Cam, who has worked in a collision shop, also does custom artwork for motorcycles and classic car restoration. Among their vehicles, some of which still need work, are a 1972 Monte Carlo, 1981 Corvette, 1972 pickup truck, and a Harley-Davidson Road Glide.
“We would do regular trips from Arizona to Maine in the summer, and we’d try different routes,” Schmand said. “So we would try to hit all the various Harley-Davidsons to pick up T-shirts and check out things.”
Changing Missions
While Schmand loves the desert, one of the best aspects of life in middle Tennessee for her is the greenery and the lushness of the grass in the springtime. She also loves her library staffers.
“They are go-getters,” Schmand said. “They’re idea generators. They are energetic and passionate about what they do. They’re helping me learn the history of the library and the University.”
The faith that Provost Mark Byrnes and search committee chair Lana Seivers, retired College of Education dean, placed in her gave her the confidence to take the MTSU position.
“With long and varied experience in library leadership, she emerged from a highly competitive national search,” Byrnes said. “Kathleen will undoubtedly help our excellent library continue to move forward.”
Schmand said she sees libraries as always changing in order to maintain their momentum.
“It’s one of those institutions that just can’t stay the same because people are using information differently,” Schmand said. “It’s being produced at much more significant rates than it has been in the past.”
Given the variety of formats and delivery methods used to convey information today, Schmand said, she sees the librarian’s job as one of making sure the user knows what’s relevant, authentic, and accurate.
“Libraries have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility, I think, to help guide the user on how to navigate that world of information because it just seems to keep increasing,” the new dean said.
One of Schmand’s interests is the kinds of technologies used in areas such as Walker Library’s Makerspace. She said she thinks it’s important to monitor those technologies, including virtual reality, with an eye toward classroom learning opportunities.
“Does it enable them to experience and explore things that they might not otherwise be able to do?” she said.
While at NAU, Schmand helped launch a fundraising project for library-housed student textbooks. Through a crowdfunding effort, she helped raise just over $6,000 for one-time purchases of electronic textbooks for specific courses. Walker Library also has been working on textbook access (see page 16).
When it comes to fundraising, Schmand believes every potential donor has a stake in the library’s future.
“While there are no graduates of an academic library,” she said, “everyone graduates using the library.”
