Many of you who have been part of the Furman community for at least a few years will remember Jenny Colvin, an extraordinary librarian and human being. Yesterday marked the second anniversary of her passing. Jenny joined us as our Music Librarian in 2006 then went on to become our Associate Director for Outreach Services.
Jenny left her mark in uncountable ways – as a mentor, a dream interpreter, a Gallup/Clifton Strengths instructor, a baker, and on and on. One of the things for which we particularly remember Jenny, however, was her love of and advocacy for reading. She was among the most voracious readers I’ve ever known. She authored a remarkable blog and podcast combination called Reading Envy in which she listed the many books she read each month, reviewed some of them, and highlighted her five-star recommendations.
She also taught May Experience courses focused on reading and storytelling, and I was lucky enough to participate in part of her Reading course. At the time, I was a few years into motherhood, struggling with “baby brain” and other issues that made it extremely difficult for me to read and process anything more than a couple of paragraphs at a time. Jenny nurtured the reader in me, as in all of her students. She gave me a book that reopened the world of fantasy for me – The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. She helped me feel comfortable, rather than embarrassed, about my love of juvenile fantasy in particular. I came to understand why I needed the positivity, character growth, and happy endings that the genre offers.
As part of a restorative practice in a recent library “Everybody” meeting, Christy asked us to speak a little bit about a book we were currently reading. As my colleagues spoke, I thought a lot about what an amazing group we are. So diverse in our loves and interests. So aware and dedicated to improving individual lives and the world as a whole. And I thought about my most significant association with reading – Jenny.
In honor and memory of Jenny, we are launching a ~monthly “What We’re Reading” feature. The book titles in the guide link to the catalog record from the closest library that owns the book – either us, another PASCAL library, the Greenville Public Library, or in one case, a WorldCat record from which you can get the book on Interlibrary Loan. Miles will continue his Instagram posts with our book recommendations, and we’ll have blog posts from various library folks with more detail about their books.
If you knew Jenny, or even if you didn’t, we encourage you to spend some time on leisure reading this summer – to remember the ways it nourishes us. We have a fascinating Leisure Reading collection on the main floor of the library that we’d be happy to show you, as well as audiobooks, ebooks, and more.
Happy Reading!
Mary