SEPTEMBER
2001
SHE'S ALWAYS LOVED LIBRARIES
As a child growing up in Bradfordville,
Althea Jenkins had no public libraries, no bookmobiles, only
the generosity of aunts and uncles to supply her with the printed
pages she loved.
What a difference a lifetime makes.
On Aug. 1, Jenkins, who has been named the new director of
University Libraries, assumed control of Florida State's 11 libraries,
including those in the College of Law and the schools of Music
and Information Studies. 
She will oversee more than 2.3 million books and periodicals
and more than 6.6 million microforms.
It's a challenge she feels ready for.
"I had accomplished a lot of the goals I set for myself," Jenkins said from her home in Chicago in July. "But there still remains a lot to be done."
Jenkins, who earned her master's in library science from FSU in 1971, has spent the past decade as the executive director of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.
She said the career path to top librarian began in high school,
where she encountered her first library.
"I was intrigued by a room filled with wonderful books,"
she said. "That was it."
Jenkins went on to earn a bachelor's degree at Florida A&M University and a doctor of education degree at Nova University in 1977.
The School of Information Studies named her the 2000 Distinguished Alumnus.
Jenkins said her key goals are collaboration and information.
"Information is what really turns the wheels in our society,"
she said.
Jenkins said she plans to meet with the administration and faculty
to develop an "information-literate society on campus."
Jenkins said another goal is to be sure there is a "research library on campus, with all the bells and whistles."
That could mean adding on to the Robert Manning Strozier Library, the university's main but aging and cramped library, or building a new state-of-the-art library.
Jenkins said she aims to teach students how to access information.
"One of the things libraries should be doing is challenging students to be self-learners," she said. -Michelle Hayes
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