DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
With Gratitude: Twenty‑Six Years of Partnership and Progress at Joyner Library
As I share this final Year‑in‑Review message, I am filled with gratitude for the community that has sustained Joyner Library throughout my 26 years at East Carolina University. Our story is defined by people — faculty and staff whose creativity and care shape daily experiences for learners; students whose curiosity keeps us striving; and community partners whose collaboration helps the library reach beyond its walls to serve eastern North Carolina and beyond.
This year’s highlights — new programs, strengthened services, and expanded collaborations — are the latest chapters in a long tradition of working shoulder‑to‑shoulder across campus and the community. Our faculty and staff have led with ingenuity, forging partnerships that advance open scholarship, teaching support, and meaningful community engagement. Their devotion to students and colleagues remains the heartbeat of this library.
To our donors and long‑standing supporters both internal and external to ECU: Thank you. Your generosity has made a tangible, lasting difference — supporting student awards and internships, enhancing spaces that welcome families and scholars, growing collections that preserve our region’s memory, and powering outreach that connects Joyner Library with schools, public libraries, local organizations, and cultural initiatives. Your gifts — financial contributions, gifts‑in‑kind, and wise counsel — have helped us dream bigger and deliver more. Your trust in the library’s mission, your belief in our staff, and your willingness to invest in student success have been a constant source of strength. Together, we have celebrated new dedications, launched initiatives like this year’s StoryWalks, and honored the accomplishments of our students and colleagues. Those moments — and the relationships that made them possible — will remain among my most cherished memories.
As I transition from this role in June, I ask you to continue the partnership that has carried us forward. Stay engaged with the Friends of the Library, champion the library’s priorities, and lend your voice and support to the next chapter of ECU Libraries. The work ahead is exciting, and the impact of your continued involvement will be profound.
To every colleague, collaborator, and donor who has walked beside us — thank you for the privilege of serving with you. It has been the honor of my career to be part of this community. I look forward to celebrating all that the library will accomplish in the years to come.
With appreciation, Jan Lewis Director, Joyner Library
SPACES TO CELEBRATE
TRC brightened, enhanced as a model school library
Easy navigation was one of the main goals of the TRC staff when summer renovation and redesign plans began. Lower shelves were implemented for pre-K and young adult collections, and curriculum materials. The instructional classroom was upgraded, along with new features such as a librarian/teacher collaboration lounge, educational technology studio, flex practice classroom and colorful story time corner to read to young children.
The redesign was supported by Frances Mallison ’77, a member of the ECU College of Education Educators Hall of Fame and longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Joyner Library, and Langford endowment funds. New signage was installed thanks to the Betty Debnam Hunt and Richard M. Hunt endowed fund.
The facility hosted an open house celebration in October.
This will be an incredible resource for media coordinators, providing opportunities to learn how to integrate robotics into the curriculum and even check out materials to use with their students. Overall, the redesigned TRC opens up exciting possibilities for PCS educators and students alike, offering access to modern tools that support creativity, collaboration and hands-on learning." -Amelia White, district media specialist for Pitt County Schools
Study room upgrades
About 100 library study rooms were renovated during the summer with improved lighting, new carpet and work surfaces, fresh paint, task lights, improved ergonomics, backpack storage options and new wall protection features.
Bringing StoryWalks to Greenville
A year of preparation and work culminated in the official opening of two StoryWalks in January. Joyner Library partnered with Greenville Recreation and Parks, the Friends of Sheppard Memorial Library and Farmville Public Library to create and install StoryWalks at Wildwood and Greensprings Parks. The project was funded in part from a grant, awarded to two Joyner employees, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provision of the federal Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina.
Seen on the first floor
A new Wayfinder application, right, was developed and installed as a resource to help patrons navigate Joyner Library. The app uses animations and a destination view for a full guide from the entrance to the desired location in the library.
A social media video including circulation employees helped welcome students back to campus for the fall semester. It also showcased various items available for them to check out.
STUDENT-FOCUSED
I encourage other students to take advantage of the study rooms, especially for group projects or test preparation. Reserving an individual or group study room at the library minimizes distractions. Joyner Library is an incredible resource, not only for study spaces, but also for the tools and services it provides." -SGA president Daniel Walker
Exam slam and celebrating graduates
Engagement and Outreach
Get A Clue (left) is the largest involvement fair of the year held annually early in the fall semester on the ECU Mall area, located outside of Joyner Library.
Our library's engagement and outreach team is one of the most active groups on campus at student-centric events like orientations, Pirates™ Aboard, first generation tabling and other opportunities to connect directly with students. New initiatives this year included: Pirates, pajamas and papers, trivia night, make break!, study social mixer and cozy book swap.
A new era: First Floor Takeover
A fun addition to the library’s first floor takeover event (formerly game night) was a silent disco.
This is a family-friendly event for ECU students, staff and faculty, and community guests. Pizza and snacks were available, along with engaging activities such as tabletop games, trivia, pumpkin painting, card games, video games, D&D.
Student employment is a key way the library contributes to student success. The library employs more than 60 students annually.
17th and 18th School of Art and Design graduate student exhibits bring creativity and beauty to the library
Student Award Ceremonies
Students received awards throughout the year, including formal ceremonies for them to be recognized by their peers and library supervisors. The Friends of the Library sponsor the W. Keats Sparrow Award. Marie Thompson sponsors the Marie and James Thompson Student Employee Award. Food and the Rhem/Schwarzmann awards were paid for from the Rhem/Schwarzmann Endowment for Recognition of Student Research Fund. Congratulations to all of the recipients!
The W. Keats Sparrow Writing Award recognizes excellence in research and writing by students in English 1100 and 2201 composition classes:
- 1st place - JT Bivens (pictured right)
- 2nd place - Hannah Thomas
- 3rd place - Rachel Fryar
Marie & James Thompson Student Employee Awards:
- Keaton Caldwell, presented by James Stroud
- Shatiece Starks, presented by Jennifer Daugherty
- Analise Watts, presented by Kayla Hathaway
- Tyrell Wilson, presented by Mollie Frazier
The Rhem/Schwarzmann Prize recognizes outstanding research papers written by sophomores, juniors and seniors, who used our special collections as a resource:
- Sam Sewall
- Jennifer Beatty
- Deanna Pate
IN THE NEWS
“In Their Footsteps: Exploring World War II Through Archival Records”
The exhibit, “In Their Footsteps: Exploring World War II Through Archival Records,” was featured on the library’s first, third and fourth floors for the latter half of 2025. The exhibit told the story of the war from an American perspective via photographs, records, diaries, oral histories, film, posters and other artifacts. It included items related to major battles and hardships faced by prisoners of war, and local elements like life on the home front in eastern North Carolina.
Jennifer Daugherty received coverage from The Daily Reflector for her work with community projects. This included "Our Story," a community engagement art exhibit project at Greenville Emerge Gallery.
A grant from the Mellon Foundation’s Public Knowledge program supports paid archival studies internships.
ECU's social media team captured why a couple wanted to say “I Do” on the steps of Joyner Library.
Mich and I met in our first week of school back in 1974, but we never really sat down and talked until we ran into each other in the old Joyner library our junior year. That was the beginning for us and the reason that remaining arch is so very special to us." -Bonnie Brockwell Brown
History is interesting in the fact that you can learn more and help apply it to the modern day. There’s even materials from when ECU Health was Pitt County Memorial Hospital. Learning more about the history of medicine while I’m also learning about the history of North Carolina has been really interesting.” -Library student employee Madison Howlett, who is double majoring in molecular and cell biology and public health on the pre-medical track.
EVENTS AND EXHIBITS
Joyner Library hosted the 41st annual Society of North Carolina Archivists conference. Session topics included developing how-to video series, preservation, digital best practices and solutions in archives, engaging with student interns and high school teachers, and social media strategizing for special collections employees.
A tale about visualizing
SUPPORT AND IMPACT
Expanding access, new agreements
ECU Libraries is committed to making access to research more sustainable, affordable, impactful and open. Two new open access agreements were secured this year, enabling our researchers to reach more readers. We now support open access publishing agreements with 12 publishers. One of the new agreements was through the collaboration with Carolina Consortium to add Elsevier, permitting ECU authors to publish their works in a selected list of hybrid journals on ScienceDirect at no cost to them. The other addition was an agreement that covers ECU articles submitted and accepted during calendar year 2025 for all Mary Ann Liebert journals.
The Sustainable Scholarship webpage has more information about the ways ECU Libraries support open access publishing.
Library employees Alston Cobourn, Jennifer Daugherty, Charlene Loope and Vatoyia Gardner earned grant awards from The State Library of NC. Their projects: "LSTA EZ Planning Grant- Designing for Impact!" and "LSTA EZ Grant- Pop-Up Teacher Resource Center.” Also, Cobourn, Daniel Ferkin and Justin Borer were awarded a North Carolina Preservation Consortium grant to digitize ECU’s early radio station recordings.
I really appreciate all the hard work and courteous responses from Joyner staff and especially the ILL department. It adds a lot of value to the experience of conducting research at ECU." - School of Music assistant professor Dr. Samuel Gingher
Led by William Gee, Arwen Parris and James Stroud with ECU interlibrary loan, plus ILL student employees, the ILL team was recognized again by OCLC for delivering exceptional service. This kept ECU as a member in OCLC’s Express Delivery program.
Joyner has provided materials to more than 1,600 libraries during the past two years. This includes to each of the other UNC System institutions, to 25 in-state public libraries and to libraries in 13 countries, including South Africa, Australia, India, Sweden and New Zealand.
This has been invaluable. Frankly, I wouldn’t be able to pursue this topic without it. I would be spending lots of money traveling to and from other libraries and begging them for permission to make digital copies of their materials. That would be unsustainable while enrolled full time in classes.” -Graduate student and researcher Matthew Mantini
ILL provides about 70% of the resources I need to inform my research. I cite those sources in my book. Without those citations, I would not have been able to secure a book contract with a university press." -associate professor of French and Francophone studies Dr. Marylaura Papalas
Connecting with local schools
Strength of the Music Library
Reviewers with the National Association of Schools of Music were impressed by the Music Library during the ECU School of Music's accrediting process in March. They specifically noted the Music Library as one of four major strengths, saying: “Library resources are vast, updated through input from faculty, and frequent and innovative use of the library spaces by students was notable.”
Your dedication to uplifting and guiding us as young adults, while constantly bringing fresh ideas to improve our learning experiences, does not go unnoticed. It is a privilege to be in such a safe, supportive environment surrounded by people who lead with curiosity, kindness and creativity." -Student letter to Music Library staff
AI in the Library
Library addressing AI literacy needs
New research tutorial: Angela Whitehurst, an engineering and technology librarian, created an online tutorial for students about Generative AI as it relates to research. Videos are available on topics, including how new data is created and AI strengths and weaknesses. The tutorial provides an overview of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Library instruction: Library faculty are offering instruction modules on how to select and use Generative AI tools, evaluate Gen AI output, and consider implications such as privacy, ethics and environmental concerns. Faculty in disciplines ranging from construction management to library science have taken advantage of librarians’ expertise with evaluating information and using it ethically to help their students become more AI literate.
Sharing expertise: Many library faculty and staff have incorporated Gen AI into their research and service. They have presented at library forums, Office for Faculty Excellence workshops, regional conferences and other venues, and worked with campus groups to establish AI use guidelines.
Academic Library Services director Jan Lewis presented at the EDUCAUSE conference in Nashville as part of a panel on the topic, “Ctrl+Alt+Innovate: Transforming the Curriculum with AI.”
EMPLOYEE HIGHLIGHTS
Praise from ECU faculty:
Students had extraordinary help from Special Collections staff. I am thankful for the many daily services that Joyner Library offers ECU faculty and students, which have benefited me and my students. These are exemplified in Kristen Daniel’s unflagging efforts to connect faculty to Special Collections resources for their classes, and Patrick Cash’s high level of expertise, capably adapted to students’ experience and interests."
Students in the advanced French course on "Archives of the French Empire" got first-hand experience exploring French-language primary sources in the Joyner archives. Thanks to John Dunning at Joyner Library for hosting us and curating this fascinating selection of materials!"
Pirates at NCLA
First-year and student transitions librarian Walter Lanham was nominated by a student as an influential figure in their success at ECU. Lanham’s nomination and role in support and guidance is part of the ECU Excels program and celebration that recognizes first-semester freshmen and transfer students who earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher in their first fall semester.
The Open Education Network highlighted Jeanne Hoover, head of scholarly communication, with an instructor profile.
The December issue of the Online Audiovisual Catalogers newsletter had a spotlight on Jan Mayo, head of general collections cataloging.
Nationwide publishing
A published article by ECU library authors about how users access electronic resources received nationwide exposure via an infoDOCKET announcement. This stems from multi-year research conducted by authors Patricia Dragon, Jan Mayo, Ann Carol Stocks and Rebecca Tatterson.
ALS employees Joseph Thomas, Allison Kaefring and Jeanne Hoover authored the article — “Motivations and barriers to publishing open access book chapters and monographs: An institutional perspective,” published in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication, which is an open access journal.
Jeanne Hoover and Bryna Coonin published an article in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication about faculty understanding of scholarly research metrics.
Laura Bright authored "Engaging the Arts for Library Employee Wellbeing" in North Carolina Libraries.
Angela Whitehurst contributed to a proceedings publication about ChatGPT in engineering education, from a conference in Montreal.
Impact in stewardship
The library's Stewardship Committee activities include street cleanups, student move-in assistance, turkeypalooza, transcription, assisting Pitt County Schools and the JOY Community Center, and collection drives for holiday toys, school supplies and clothing.
Library employees’ generosity during this year’s turkeypalooza food drive resulted in four complete food boxes plus gift cards. Across ECU, turkeypalooza collected 54 holiday meal boxes and $1,400 in gift cards for families in Pitt and Greene Counties.
A highlight of staff development day is the presentation of employee awards. Employees are nominated monthly by their colleagues. The Staff Development Committee selects the recipients in each category for the annual recognition. The recipients, and excerpts from their award nominations, are:
- Effective leadership, Charlotte Fitz-Daniels: “Charlotte always is very professional and steady in managing events in the library. She also has stepped up to emerge as a true and trusted leader recently with the engagement & outreach team. Great examples of leadership and showing initiative!”
- Enhancing morale, Blume Mansfield: “Blume always has a positive attitude and does their best to ensure everyone is having a good day at work. Blume goes above and beyond to ensure that their job is done to the best of their ability and spends their time at work ensuring that all employees and patrons feel as though they are a top priority. Blume ensures that everything they do is for the betterment of others and the department moral has gone sky-high since they started.”
- Outstanding delivery of service, Matt Clark, Floyd Conner and Ronnie Williams: “Floyd, Matt and Ronnie drove the box truck and van to Richmond, Va., to pick up a large donation of materials for Special Collections. They arrived before noon and did a yeoman’s job. Of the 89 boxes they packed into the box truck, all but 11 had to be brought down from the third floor. Thanks to their doubts about the weight capacity of the 80-year-old elevator, they chose to bring the boxes down by hand or hand-truck. They loaded everything before lunch and took their box lunches supplied by the donor on the road so that they could get back to the library before closing. They unloaded the 89 boxes on pallets in the Records Center. Thanks to them for their hard work on a long and hot day!”
- Display of creativity and/or initiative, the 2024 Paraprofessional Committee: Joe Barricella, Erin Gray, Meghan Croll, Catherine Maryott, Laura Newsome, Eryn Staib, Aurora Venegas.
#AskAnArchivist
THE FRIENDS OF JOYNER LIBRARY
The Friends of Joyner Library is the oldest Friends group at East Carolina University.
The group was established in 1978 to promote our library as a university and community resource. The Friends Board of Directors meets regularly and communicates with members through newsletter, emails and the annual meeting. Through advocacy and fundraising, they promote student success, support library staff development and provide funding to enhance and preserve unique collections.
Writer's Workshop
Gift planning
Planned gifts can provide long-lasting support for Joyner Library while enjoying financial benefits for yourself. To gain greater detail about these planned giving options, which can include tax benefits and beneficiary designation, as well as learn about membership in the Leo W. Jenkins Society, explore the gift planning website by University Advancement.
Supporting Joyner Library is another way to bolster our important work across Pirate Nation. We are grateful for the many library supporters who share their time, talent and resources to ensure our students have the tools they need to succeed!
Thank you to our donors:
- Michael Aho and Joe Esparza
- Kendra and Mark Alexander
- Susan Rose Ambert
- Jordan Anders
- Kris and Alyssa Arnold
- Mary Alice Arnold
- Terry and Stephen Atkinson
- Lawrence E. and Nancy Babits
- Alan Bailey
- Maha and John Banning
- Vauclain Winston Barnes
- Roy and Jackie Barnhill
- Michael Bassman and David Champagne
- Margaret D. Bauer and Andrew Morehead Jr.
- Craig and Camilla Becker
- Steven A. Benko
- Kathryn Elaine Birke
- Kay and John Blizzard
- Patrick James Boyle
- Kim L. McLean Brewington
- David and Rachel Britt
- Carol Adamec Brown
- Frances Cain
- Thomas Hartwell Campbell
- Estelia and Leon Carney
- Deborah and Donald Cherry
- Bryna Coonin
- Christine L. Danell-Tepper
- Jennifer and Michael Daugherty
- Jonathan and Carol Dembo
- Rhonda R Dennard-Hardy
- Phillip Ray Dixon, Sr.
- Neil and Donna Dorsey
- Kaye and William Dotson
- Patricia and John Dragon
- Cheryl Dudasik-Wiggs
- Mary Denise Edwards
- Edward Ellis, Jr.
- Martha and William Elmore
- Alessandro Rocky Ferzoco
- Juli and Thompson Forbes III
- Paula and Earl Futrell
- Bonnie and Robert Gaddis
- Nell Dixon Garner
- William Gee
- Dillon Ray Godley
- Meredith and Michael Goins
- Andrew Grace
- Erin Burbank Gray
- Bevley W. Green
- Damita Green
- Thomas Greener
- Theresa and Ricky Hardy
- Alice Linda Hassell
- Stephanie Pope Hedgepeth
- William E. Holman
- Jeanne Hoover
- Larry and Caroline Houston
- Margaret F. Hudson
- Elizabeth and Robert IV Hughes
- Estate of Betty Debnam Hunt
- Christina and Robbie Hunt
- David Wade Hursh
- Plummer Alston Jones, Jr.
- Donna Marie Keith
- Deborah Price Kornegay
- Jeffrey and Jennifer Kornegay
- Ann B. Laliotes
- Carroll Harden Leggett
- Alpha N. Levesque
- Janice and Evan Lewis
- Charlene Loope
- Patricia Anne Lurvey
- Frances Mallison
- Cyrus and Michelle Manavi
- Arthur Jr. and Ann Maxwell
- Marian and Richard McLawhorn
- Christian Corey Mercier
- Alice C. and Edward Moore
- Cecilia Moore-Cobb
- Amanda and David Moye
- William II and Judith Neville
- Samuel William Newell
- Glenn and Bonnie Norman
- Ree Oppen
- Michelle and Daniel Overby
- Arwen Parris and Jules Norwood
- Laura Pamela Pelletier
- James P Philips
- Lauren Elizabeth Piner
- Mary J. Raab
- Johnnee and Danny Rice
- Thomas Stephenson Robinson
- Allen and Stephanie Rohl
- William H. Rowland
- Mark Sanders
- Todd Savitt
- Suzanne S. Scheetz
- Gregg Schwitzgebel
- Rejeanor H. and Carl Scott
- Claire and Edgar Shields Jr.
- Royce and Ruth Shingleton
- Riddick and Jessie Smiley
- Carole and John Smith
- Christopher and Samantha Smith
- Mary and Jack Spain Jr.
- Millie and Destiny Sparks
- Saundra and George Stanley
- Michele Choyke Stephenson
- Shelby S. Strother
- Elizabeth and Andrew Swaggerty
- Michael and Alice Taylor
- Linda and Joseph Teel
- William Joseph Thomas
- Marie Sharpe Thompson
- Mary Kathryn Thornton
- Wendy Tilley
- Lathan Ernest Turner
- Sven Layne vanBaars and Jennifer Kimball
- George and Jane Wang
- Jennifer and Chris Watson
- Harroll and Charlotte Weaver
- Ilet Bertis Wells
- James and Sherry Westmoreland
- Judith Kirkpatrick Whichard
- Angela and Kendrick Whitehurst
- Luther George Williams, Jr.
- H Lee Willoughby-Harris
- Elizabeth and Dennis Winstead
- Richard M. Wolfe and Joanne Kollar
- Ronnie Woodward
- Rhonda J. Woolard
- Victoria Pauline Young
- 7tySeven Edvisory Services
- The Mattamuskeet Foundation, Inc.
- Edenton Womans Club
- American Online Giving Foundation
Credits:
Created with images by ECU News photography and library, Adobe resources. ECU's Main Campus Library - library.ecu.edu.