5 minute read
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Creating the Library of the Future
Sue Furman visits the Newberry’s IT Department earlier this year.
Advertisement
When asked about her successful library career, Sue Furman half-jokingly attributes it to “the quirk of having been a girl able to understand machines.” Sue is a vibrant “I’m proud to be a librarian because it’s about serving people and giving them personality, a self-described perfectionist, a dedicated librarian, access to the information that they and a member of the Blatchford Society, the Newberry’s need. Digital tools help us do that.” planned giving society. She’s also one of the tech whizzes who helped launch the Newberry into the Internet Age in the 1990s.
Sue has always been dedicated to serving the public. After In addition to repairing malfunctioning equipment, Sue began earning her Master’s in Library Science in 1980, she joined a team helping libraries computerize their card catalogs, an important step of librarians tasked with building a public library from scratch in toward making information more accessible. “I’m proud to be a Darien, Illinois. “We literally had to go to a bookstore and buy librarian because it’s about serving people and giving them access a library,” Sue says with a laugh. “That’s not something you get to the information that they need. Digital tools help us do that.” to do every day.” In just six months, the team built the Darien When Sue interviewed for a position at the Newberry in 1990, Demonstration Library and convinced the public that it was Associate Librarian Mary Wyly knew that the library needed to worth their time and tax money. “Our biggest selling point was computerize its catalog—and that Sue was the woman for the job. that we could get our users information from anywhere in the Sue served as the Newberry’s Director of Computing country using Interlibrary Loan.” (Interlibrary Loan is a service Services from 1990 to 1999. During that time, she was also part that allows readers to request materials from other libraries— of an informal interdepartmental alliance of female librarians led including the Library of Congress.) “That was a big deal for by Mary Wyly and including Sue in computing services, Hjordis our readers. It gave them access to information like never before,” Sue explains.
After leaving Darien’s new, fully functioning public library district, Sue continued to work as a librarian in the Chicago area. No matter where she went, though, one thing remained constant: “When machines stopped working, they came looking for me.”
Sue had a knack for technology from a young age, due in part to the influence of her father. “My father didn’t particularly want a child, but if he was going to have one, he was going to have a boy. Instead, he got me.” But the things that were supposedly “for boys,” like machines and engineering, interested her, too. And she was good with them. “Machines just made sense to me.” The Newberry’s IT department in 1990
the third floor with ten to fifteen percent of the catalog loaded to eliminate a literal switchboard, built its first institutional webpage, and established personal email addresses for all employees.
“When you put the dates together, you realize that the Newberry was right at the forefront of technology thanks to us four caballeros,” Sue says, using her nickname for the four-woman team. “What we held on to was that the Newberry was free and open to the public—not just to specialized academics and researchers. That statement drove the nineties. It drove us.” Sue, Mary, Hjordis, and Kitty helped staff and technology at the Newberry work together to introduce readers to the rich world of its collections.
“Looking back, I have so many fond memo
ably one of the best jobs I ever had.” When people come to the Newberry, they aren’t just looking up old information—they’re generating new knowledge. “I remember watching students enter the building and, after a moment or two of uncertainty, realizing just how much they could do here.” That unique type of engagement combined with the library’s dedication to service led Sue to include the Newberry in her estate plans. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be able to contribute. I’m a librarian and my husband’s a high school teacher! But I’m in a place now that I can.” Sue and her husband Vince are now members of the Blatchford Society and are building upon the Sue enjoys a moment while installing new equipment at the Newberry. legacy of service Sue began at the Newberry in 1990. “The reasons I became a librarian play out here at the Newberry every day,” Sue Halvorson in reader services, and Margaret “Kitty” Brenneman they need, and I want to help keep doing that.” in cataloging. Together, these four women worked to bring the During a recent visit to the Newberry, Sue stood in the latest technologies to the Newberry and implement them to Herget Welcome Center. More than twenty years after finishing best serve readers. They met every week to discuss, plan, and her time as Director of Computing Services, she took in staff, advocate. “People must have thought we were brewing witches’ volunteers, and readers using computers to explore the collection potions in there because we’d disappear for hours,” Sue jokes. just steps from the front doors—a reality she helped create. “I
The result of their efforts? In 1990, the technology available think I’m going to cry. The science fiction we wrote in the ‘90s to the public at the Newberry consisted of four terminals on is real now. We created the library of the future.” onto them. But by the time Sue left in 1999, the Newberry was To learn more about the Blatchford Society, please connected to the Internet, had computers available for public contact Natalie Edwards at (312) 255-3544 or use, had installed its first firewall, updated its telephone system edwardsn@newberry.org.
explains. “I’m a librarian. I connect people with the information ries of the Newberry,” Sue reflects. “It was probThe modernized IT department, 1999
