Director of Libraries Retiring

Dr. Janis Bandelin, who has served as Furman’s Director of Libraries since 1996, is set to retire in December.

Janis attended the University of California at Davis, majoring in English and received her elementary and secondary teaching credentials. Seeking adventure and international work experience, she taught junior high and high school students at the Collegio Americano in Torreón, Mexico for three years. After returning to the states, she taught ESL to Vietnamese and Cambodian students and began a stint as a school librarian. After completing her Masters in Library Science, she was offered a fellowship to enter the doctoral program at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX. While in the program, she worked at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth as Bibliographic Instruction librarian and Head of Interlibrary Loan. Continuing her migration to the southeastern part of the country, she served as Head of Public Services at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.

She came to Furman in 1996, and became involved in a number of professional organizations. She served on state, regional, and national boards including PASCAL, SOLINET, OCLC, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Oberlin Group of Libraries.

The milestones of her tenure at Furman, include the James B. Duke Library building renovation and expansion, the addition of the Music and Science libraries, the creation of the Digital Collections Center, major changes to the Libraries’ organizational structure, the launching of the Faculty Scholarship Reception, and the establishment of The Library Café.

These accomplishments were achieved in collaboration with library colleagues, encouragement from faculty, support from university administration, and the generosity of donors.

Caroline Mills, Assistant Director for Collection Services will serve as interim Director of Libraries.