Nomination of Felicia Haywood for Chancellor’s Service Excellence Award – Individual
June 19, 2014
On my first day working in the Middle Georgia State College Library (Macon campus) approximately nine years ago, Felicia Haywood told me that her primary passion was promoting the library and advocating for its service to students, faculty, and staff. I have since had the privilege of seeing her put that passion into action on a daily basis—often using her own personal funds or volunteering in the community on her own time as a part of that.
Felicia works constantly to make sure the Library is full of fun, conversation-starting displays. These are frequently filled with items that belong to her personally—or that she has purchased with her own funds. There is almost always a display containing the “Library Goat” or a life-sized Yoda in various disguises. (Right now he’s wearing a beach hat, advertising beach reads and warning about sun protection.) Students have argued about which of these should be the official Library mascot, they’re such a constant part of the environment. They don’t realize that both mascots were not only Ms. Haywood’s idea, but are her personal property on loan to the library.
Ms. Haywood’s displays are designed to:
· Make the Library a more relaxed and pleasant place for colleagues and patrons alike.
· Encourage students and other patrons to visit the Library and to go into parts of the Library they might not normally visit.
· Decrease library anxiety among students and help them realize that librarians are fun and approachable.
All of these goals indirectly help students be more successful. If they’re more familiar with the Library and find librarians to be friendly and approachable, they’re more likely to ask for help with everything from email to research projects.
During finals week the last two terms, Felicia wanted a way to help students with end-of-term stress and held Pet Therapy Days, bringing in certified therapy dogs. Scores of students took a study break to de-stress and pet a dog before returning to their studies. When a student wished there was a campus group to discuss books, Felicia arranged a well-attended Book Talk event.
As a bonus outcome, all these events involve other library staff members and increase morale in librarians and staff as well. I can attest to this personally. I published my first novel this past January, and Felicia hosted a book launch for me at the library. Felicia found a way to show support for her colleague but also used the event to showcase the library. Faculty brought their English and creative writing classes. Students, faculty, and staff saw a different side of books and writing, and also saw the library in a new light.
Felicia also takes her interests and creativity out into the community through her volunteer work. One related project she is currently working on is the “Little Libraries” campaign, in which she helped build a Little Library for our community that looks like a tardis from the Dr. Who television series and has drawn a great deal of interest.
At the beginning of this past term, Felicia decided that in addition to reaching out to groups through activities and displays, she wanted to put even more effort into helping individual library users. Even though this has already been a priority, she wanted to go even further in helping individuals.
As a result, more than 30 library patrons this term have submitted customer feedback forms, giving testimonials to Felicia’s excellence in areas such as courtesy, helpfulness, responsiveness, knowledge, and accessibility. One student said, “Felicia was awesome! She explained annotated bibliography in a language I could understand and it was very helpful…Ms. Haywood went beyond her call of duty and the information she shared was so very helpful.”
In another case, Felicia worked with a nontraditional student struggling through her first class at MGSC. The student didn’t know anything about email or how to access her course materials, and Felicia spent a significant amount of time working with her, until she felt comfortable enough to tackle the computer alone. This student said, “She explained in detail all my needs for continuing the class and requirements to get into the course syllabus. She even went to the IT desk to find they had not given me the right info and corrected him when he gave a good excuse why he did [not] give me a right password. We went right to the slow computer and she even explained to me that I just have to wait a minute. I would have thought it was me and left. I will talk directly to her as she [is] available. Told me her office # and told me her hours.” Had it not been for Felicia, this student might have become discouraged and given up on her college career. As it is, she continues to contact the library for help and is plowing ahead.
New employees are often enthusiastic about their jobs and full of creative ideas. But to see someone who has been a librarian here for more than ten years set herself new challenges for customer service and even increase her passion and creativity is amazing.
-- Robin Grant, Electronic Resources Librarian