PASCAL News

Women’s History Month Spotlight on Leaders in the PASCAL Community: Leslie Brown

March is Women’s History Month, an annual celebration recognizing the history and achievements of women. In honor of Women’s History Month, PASCAL is pleased to share spotlights of some of the remarkable women leaders in our community. These women all play a vital role at their institutions, in the PASCAL Community, within the library profession, and beyond. 

Leslie Brown
Reference, Interlibrary Loan & Electronic Resources Librarian
Hester Memorial Library, North Greenville University

About Leslie:

In my 30+ years in the field of library science I have served in school, public, private proprietary and academic libraries in two states and two countries. I earned my MLIS from the University of South Carolina and began as a media specialist in two small rural K-5 schools. My journey then took me to a school on the coast and next to Romania. There I served in a private school and a Romanian seminary library. That was a pivotal experience because it exposed me to working with university students. I was hooked! I returned to the US and earned my MDiv from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. While there I worked in the James P. Boyce Centennial Library and volunteered with international students at the University of Louisville. After serving for a little over a year as Director of Library Services at Brown Mackie College - Louisville I accepted my current position at North Greenville University. I can honestly say that I love my job. I provide reference services to students, faculty, staff and community patrons as well as managing all interlibrary loan services and electronic resources. I also get to teach information literacy skills, which is one of my research interests. In my “free” time outside of work I spend time with/minister to international students and student athletes.
 

Hobbies & interests:

I am an avid gardener, bird watcher and hiker who loves being out in God's beautiful creation. Sometimes I draw or paint what I see. I'm an ardent sports fan and the "team mom" for all the NGU teams and I'm passionate about working with international students and about Celtic languages, culture and history.
 

Tell us about another woman working in the field of libraries and information science who you admire:

Of the many who've blessed my journey in this field, there are three who stand out. I admire my current supervisor Carla McMahan, Dean of libraries and Director of Hester Memorial for her openness to innovation, her commitment to excellence in all she does and her consistent support of all our staff as we strive to improve and advance ourselves. My friend Carol Bush is librarian at Holmes Bible College in Greenville and has been a solo librarian there for years. I admire her love for her students and her pursuit of excellence on behalf of her patrons. Finally, Mrs. Oline Smith was my school librarian many years ago and she not only excelled in the technical part of library science but also the relation part. She knew each and every one of her students, their interests and hobbies and made it a joy to go to the library. I want to be like these women.

PASCAL’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee would like to thank all the leaders who have shared their stories with the PASCAL community. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating Women’s History Month by taking a moment to recognize – and thank – the remarkable women in your library.