Fayetteville Public Library has long been the Arkansas city’s center, a hot spot for learning, special events, and other communal gatherings. In 2005, it won the Library of the Year award sponsored by Library Journal and Thompson/Gale Publishers – the smallest library ever to earn that accolade, said the library’s current director, SIS alum David Johnson (‘93). Johnson is the recipient of the 2020 SIS Distinguished Alumni Award, and he is receiving it in part due to his work at the library.

We know that everyone’s lives have been impacted by this pandemic, and just as we have adjusted our work and support for students here at the School of Information Sciences, many of our alumni have had to drastically change everyday operations. We reached out to some of our alums to see how they and their organizations were handling the changes, and providing stability and continued access to resources in this time of uncertainty. Here is what they told us:

Hilary Jasmin

Research and Learning Services Librarian

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Memphis, Tenn.

SIS Student & Staff Member Hillary Tune (featured at 0:29) sews face masks for Knox Makes Masks

During this time, people are coming together (while staying apart), and doing what they can to support and inspire their community. The members of the SIS community are no different; alumni, faculty, students, and staff are already stepping up and embodying the Volunteer Spirit during this difficult time.

Julia Proctor and some fellow students have worked for months on reinstituting the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s student chapter of the Society for American Archivists (SAA). While at first it may have seemed that the timing of their inaugural special speaker wasn’t ideal – with it being the Sunday after Spring Break and in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis – the group decided that it would be a great distraction for other students during this tumultuous time. And they were right, Proctor said.

It was by chance that Aisha Johnson-Jones found information about the historic Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program while she was doing research on increasing African-American diversity in archives. As she started learning more about the program, she started asking around to see what research had been done on the topic. When it became clear that it was an untouched subject, she knew it was her calling to bring the story to life – how one philanthropist funded libraries and schools for African-Americans and made a lasting impact.

Featured student: Jeff Zentner

Location: Nashville, TN

Education: Bachelor’s degree in communications from University of Utah, law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School

Career/Background: I’ve had a number of different lives. I used to be a musician. As a musician, I recorded several albums with bands and solo, and wrote a bunch of songs. I’ve worked with Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, and Debbie Harry. I toured and played festivals and such. That was a lot of fun but it ran its course.

SIS and Chancellor’s Professor Suzie Allard delivers the keynote at the Empirical Librarians 2020 conference in Knoxville.

The Empirical Librarians conference is a small event that allows librarians to learn more about research, and how to support original research. The 2020 conference was hosted in Knoxville Feb. 27-28. Several SIS students, alumni and faculty attended the conference and many of them presented their research, including:

• SIS and Chancellor’s Professor Suzie Allard was the keynote speaker and she spoke about how to collaborate with researchers in other disciplines, and why a multi-disciplinary team can be helpful in information sciences research. She