Pam Temple's Retirement Party Pictures

January 31, 2018 is Pam Temple's last day as Coordinator of Technical Services at Chattanooga State. The KLIC staff held a retirement party for Pam on January 25th. Here are a few pictures from the party and the friends who visited!

Witty signs like this one were posted around the room.

Mini-candy bars were wrapped with tiny book covers.

This table had a tree with printed book covers as ornaments, check out cards to be used as a note for Pam, and a sign about Pam's 38 years at Chattanooga State.

Several retired library staff members came back to honor Pam and to visit with us. It was great to connect with past staff members!

Front row-Wiki, Pam, Sharon. Back Row-Sandra, Vicky, Bill, Tisa.

And a picture of the past staff and current staff 

Pam, we hope to see you around! Thank you for all of your years of dedication to your profession and to Chattanooga State!

Pam Temple - Goodbye Questions

With Pam Temple retiring, we wanted to ask her a few questions about Chattanooga State and the library before she left!

1. When did you begin working at Chattanooga State?

Temporary, September 1979; full time, January 1980.

2. What were the biggest changes in your library job over the years?

o   One big change for me was moving from a 9 month to a 12 month position.

o   One big change for the library was moving from a paper card catalog and shelflist to a digital library management system.

o   RDA is starting to become a major change as well.

3. What’s the most noticeable change at Chatt State from your first day in 1980 to now: What change affected the institution the most?

The most noticeable change is the campus landscape. When I came, there were the following buildings: the Omniplex, Student Center, IMC, Humanities, and a big air bubble building for the gym.

The Vocation School and the PBS TV station were here, but not part of the campus. There was no pond, no amphitheater, no Riverwalk, no Productivity Center, no Health Sciences Bldg., no Energy Plant, no Business Division addition, or expanded Library space.  Now we have added new buildings on campus as well as those we purchased such as the CBIH Bldg., the TV station, the old Olan Mills plant, and the off campus sites on Lee Highway and in Kimball.

I think the Vocational School/Chattanooga State merger started a period of growth that has continued through the years with new partnerships with Volkswagen, Wacker, and other businesses in the area. That growth and expansion probably affected the institution the most. 

4. What changes in the Library were the most noticeable or affected the library the most?

I think going to a digital library management system with 24/7 access to information resources has had a major impact on how the Library is used and perceived.  Two major renovations have kept the Library a pleasant place to study, do research, and get technology assistance.

5. How many library directors/deans have you worked with at Chatt State?

I have worked with three library directors/deans: Richard Harris (4 years), Vicky Leather (28 years), and Susan Jennings (5 1/2 years).  They are all dedicated librarians and able administrators and I have learned a lot from them over the last 38 years.  There was not a bad one in the bunch!

6. Are you retiring here – still going to be around for library meals?

Oh yes! I will always be up for a meal with my library buds.  We will be retiring right here, with many side trips to see friends, family, and the good ole USA.

And finally, a message from Pam:

I have been fortunate to work with wonderful, caring people here at Chattanooga State and especially in the Library. I cannot praise these people enough! For sure, I will not miss doing bulk imports and exports, or troubleshooting Alma and Analytics; but, I will most definitely miss the people.  I will miss the work in the sense that I feel it I has value that enhances the lives and studies of our students and faculty; thus making my time and efforts worthwhile.  Who can ask for more than that!

Pam Temple - Retirement Party on January 25th

Pam Temple began work at Chattanooga State in 1980.

After thirty-eight years of hard work and dedication, Pam has decided to retire. Please join us in the library on Thursday, January 25th from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. to wish Pam all the best as she begins this new chapter in her life. 

Something about Pam Temple -- almost every morning, she would greet each person with a cheerful good morning or hello; even though, she is a self-described night owl. Find out more about Pam from her Not So Frequently Asked Questions blog post.

Pam is the library's Coordinator for Technical Services, which puts her in charge of acquisitions, cataloging, and processing new materials. Besides being in charge of all the magic that happens in the back of the library, she's also been known to help at the Public Services desk as well as the campus advisor for copyright questions.

In her contribution to the Stars at KLIC blog series, Pam wrote this about herself:

I want to KNOW things, how something gets made, how something works, why people are the way they are, how to survive a natural disaster, etc., etc. Many times as a reference librarian, I would help a student find some information they needed for a speech, a paper, whatever. They would leave, but I'd still be researching because, now, I wanted to know.

Find out more about Pam's journey to Chattanooga State like where she went to college and her college majors from her Stars at KLIC blog post.

Besides being the coordinator for technical services, Pam served briefly as interim library dean during the summer of 2012.

Thank you, Pam Temple, for your dedication and work at Chattanooga State and in the library!  We will miss you!

Pam Temple - Stars at KLIC: Journey Story of our Staff

By Pam Temple

I never heard any kid say, "When I grow up I'M going to be a librarian," and I never expect to hear it. I was going to be a teacher or a nurse, but "librarian" just wasn't on the radar. What I did love to do was read.  On a rainy day, I was content to pull off a volume of the World Book Encyclopedia and browse, stopping to read an article when something caught my interest. In high school, my home room was the library, and it was great. I found and read all kinds of interesting books on biology, archaeology, history, and geography, to name a few.  It was like a smorgasbord of knowledge. That's the other thing about me, I want to KNOW things, how something gets made, how something works, why people are the way they are, how to survive a natural disaster, etc., etc. Many times as a reference librarian, I would help a student find some information they needed for a speech, a paper, whatever. They would leave, but I'd still be researching because, now, I wanted to know. That's the third thing about me, I like to help people find answers to their questions. Choosing librarianship as a lifetime career turned out to be a lucky choice because it is a perfect fit for me.

I went to college at Middle Tennessee State University majoring in history and minoring in English, French, and secondary education. After college, I wasn't sure that teaching was for me and someone suggested, "Well, since you love to read so much, why don't you go to Library School." I applied to the School of Library Science at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, it's now part of Vanderbilt, and was accepted. Luckily, I was awarded a Title IIB grant that paid my way so I could actually attend. While there, we were asked to select an area of concentration and I chose college and university libraries.  The rest, as they say, is history. I worked at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green and Converse College, a liberal arts college for women, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, but, the bulk of my working career has been here at Chattanooga State Community College. I've seen a lot of changes in the 36 years I've spent here; and, in many respects, it has been a wild ride. I've loved every minute of it.

We all have many roles in our lives.  I have been, or still am, a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, Methodist, potter, Sunday School teacher, volunteer, leader, teacher, and librarian. Being a librarian has been one of the most defining roles for my life allowing me to: help my family, help other people, continue to learn, and understand and have compassion for the needs of other people. I have been very fortunate in my life work, and I hope all of you are as fortunate in yours.

2016 Edible Book Festival Winners

KLIC's 3rd Annual Edible Book Festival was a success! Dr. Flora Tydings, Kathy Ebel, and Pam Temple were our judges this year and they awarded prizes in two of our three categories. Most Creative went to Kellie Graves' Bon Appetit Baby! based on Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. Best Overall went to Sabra Marshall's Monstrous Emotions based on The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone. People's Choice was decided by the public and they picked Goodnight Moon (Pie) by the Kimball Campus Staff.

Best Overall Winner: Monstrous Emotions

Most Creative Winner: Bon Appetit Baby!

People's Choice Winner: Goodnight Moon (Pie)

Honorable Mention: Game of Thrones

Honorable Mention: Sounds a Little Fishy to Me!

Our Winners

More pictures are available on our Facebook page and the EBF guide. Thank you all who participated in this event!

Not So Frequently Asked Questions with Pam Temple!

Pam Temple, Coordinator for Technical Services
Pamela.Temple@ChattanoogaState.edu

Want to add a book to the collection? Pamela Temple is the person to talk to. She is the Coordinator for Technical Services, which puts her in charge of acquisitions, cataloging, and processing new materials. Besides being in charge of all the magic that happens in the back of the library, she's also been known to help at the Public Services desk, work a couple weekend shifts, and she's the liaison for History and Geography, as well as the campus advisor for copyright questions. 

1. When and where do you like to read?
I like to read in the bed, at the kitchen table, on the living room couch, in the doctor's office, in the shower, at the beach, in the car... You get the picture; I like to read just about anywhere.

2. What was your least favorite class in college?
My least favorite class in college was speech. Having said that, I learned things in that class about organizing and presenting information/ideas that have been useful to me all of my life. Almost as useful as typing classes in high school.

3. If you could have any celebrity as your BFF, who would you choose?
George Clooney would be nice. HiIlary Clinton? Cher? Shirley MacLaine?

4. Favorite part of the new library?
The lighting and my office.

5. Early bird or night owl?
Night-owl definitely. Mornings are painful.
 
6. Where are you going on your next vacation?
I would like to take a train trip across Canada on the Continental Railway, but I will probably go to the beach below St. Augustine, Florida.
 
7. What’s your favorite TV show?
I don't watch TV. Weird, I know.

8. What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Helping people find information and the cataloging of new materials.
 
9. What do you do to de-stress?
I create pottery. You have to totally concentrate and focus on what you are doing. Makes the rest of the world go away for awhile. Playing the piano also works for that. 

10. If you weren’t a librarian, what would you be? 
A nurse