Steve Richardson Retires After 35 Years at Furman

Following in the footsteps of three generations of his family, Steve Richardson graduated from Furman in 1977. He completed his Masters in Library Science at USC in 1982 and joined Furman as the Reference and Online Services Librarian in 1986. A year later Steve introduced the campus to digital resources and never looked back! Steve quickly got to know everyone on campus and built close faculty friendships that would last throughout his years at Furman. Over the years, Steve coordinated conferences and served on multiple self-study task forces, steering committees, and advisory boards, but his greatest passion has always been assisting students and faculty with research. Steve is so sought-out by students that “Where is Steve?” became a running joke at the Research Assistance desk, and co-workers toyed with the idea of attaching a GPS to him so he could be located in the stacks when needed. Trying to “stump Steve” (with a research question) became an ongoing challenge. His Library colleagues describe him as open, supportive, a “Renaissance Man,” humble, steady, even, gracious, encouraging, smart, respectful, mannerly, and kind.

“Steve is the best kind of librarian—the one who finds items and sends them to you because he knows your current project or interests; the one who is as tenacious as a terrier in finding an obscure item; and, the one who enjoys weaving a richly textured portrait of one of his projects— be it baseball, Simpsonville, the environment, or Furman. He has fed and inspired the curiosity of generations of Furman students while also being a dear friend to his many faculty colleagues.”

Glen Halva-Neubauer, Politics and International Affairs

“What a joy it always is to work with Steve. He is a Zen master with sources, and can somehow seek and summon them even when I don’t know exactly what I am looking for. Steve is rooted in the Upstate, but his knowledge extends all around the world.”

Joni Tevis, English Department

“Steve’s support for students at all stages of ability and motivation, his broad familiarity with many different disciplines and sensibility for interdisciplinary work, his unsurpassed local history knowledge, his gift for seeming to be like my own personal research librarian, and his unbounded positivity for the liberal arts are remarkable. Or, rather, indispensable.”

Lloyd Benson, History Department

“What impressed me most about Steve when I first came to Furman was his deep knowledge of our resources and the number of students he knew by name. It’s been almost 20 years and it’s still the same.”

Jenny Colvin, Associate Director for Outreach and Access Services