Posted on behalf of Dr. Jennifer Dean, Director of the Thompson Library.
Fall 2024 marked a significant change for the Frances Willson Thompson Library and Genesee Historical Collections Center. Long-time Senior Associate Librarian and faculty member Vera K. Anderson retired after a career spanning 27 years at UM-Flint and over 30 years at the University of Michigan.
Vera is a long-time Flint area resident, a graduate of Grand Blanc High School and UM-Flint. She earned her Master of Information and Library Studies (MILS) at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Vera worked throughout her studies, serving at UM-Flint as a secretary for various departments and the Chancellor. Before beginning her graduate studies in Ann Arbor, she served as a Deputy Court Clerk for the 67th District Court. This experience led her to graduate courses in legal research and government documents, and soon to a student librarian position in Government Documents with Grace York, who was widely recognized as one of the premiere government documents librarians in the US. This internship was a formative experience for Vera, and she made an impression on her mentors and instructors in return. Her MLIS professors recommended her for an advisory position that quickly grew into a Project Manager role, with responsibility for the move and merger of four independent library collections into a single collection. This complex project encompassed a move of physical library materials as well as adjustments to the library catalog, resulting in Ann Arbor’s first integrated Science Library.
Vera had proved to be an able and supportive manager in her roles at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and this led to additional opportunities in Flint. Vera joined the Thompson Library in the Fall of 1997 as an Assistant Librarian with responsibility for the Circulation Department, a position she held for ten years. During these years, she was instrumental in bringing electronic course reserve and copyright instruction to UM-Flint faculty and teachers throughout the region, developments that took advantage of new automated systems, and which continue to be in use today. Vera has the estimable ability to think through complex projects, take advantage of technology to further library goals, and gently shepherd people through change, skills that made her a trusted leader, colleague, and advisor. Her influence did not stop at UM - she worked closely with colleagues around the region and the state, served on the Mid Michigan Library Cooperative Board of Directors, and organized professional development opportunities. As she continued her tenure at UM-Flint, she became well known for her work in research assistance and information literacy instruction, and served as a liaison to the Graduate Studies Program, the Psychology Department, and the School of Management.
As she reflected on her career at UM, Vera noted: “Nothing I accomplished could have been done without the support and assistance of an incredible staff, amazing coworkers, and some truly outstanding students that signed up to work hard helping make our library to be as useful and easy to navigate as possible. I will always remember working with them as the highlight of my time at UM, both in Ann Arbor and Flint. I wish I could tell them all that, wherever they have gone in their lives after university. They really are — for me — the valiant heroes, the champions and the best.”
University of Michigan-Flint
0 Comments.