DUNMORE, Pa. — Penn State Scranton Chancellor Marwan Wafa has announced that Library Information Resources and Services Support Specialist Mary Ann Joyce is the March Employee of the Month.
In her nomination, University Libraries Associate Dean Jennie Knies stated: “Mary Ann Joyce has worked at the Penn State Scranton campus library for over a decade. She is often the first point of contact for many students, staff, and faculty who come into the library. I would like to particularly highlight and praise Mary Ann’s work in the past year, and especially the past semester, as the Penn State Scranton campus library prepared to relocate to a temporary location (in the Dawson Building) in order to accommodate the renovation of the Library Classroom Building.”
Knies explained that the building had to be completely vacated by the end of 2022.
“In addition, we wanted to make sure that the library remained open for students until the end of finals so that they would have a quiet place to study and access to all of the course materials and other resources that they would need. This meant that we had to be very strategic about our packing,” she said. “Mary Ann singlehandedly led the packing initiatives for the largest portion of our materials — primarily the staff work room area and the circulation desk. She guided students and our part-time staff; appraised and evaluated materials we no longer needed; updated and annotated the floor plan for the new temporary space; tagged furniture and supplies with stickers to indicate their disposition; and was often the only full-time staff member available to answer questions from others about the move.”
Knies added: “In addition, Mary Ann supervised the packing of the collections that moved with the library to the new space — graphic novels, leisure reading, DVDs, magazines and course reserves. In the end, there were close to 200 boxes of library supplies and books that needed to be transferred to Dawson 10. While this was happening, the students on our campus saw no reduction in library services.
“When we returned to campus after the new year, Mary Ann was the first staff member to see the new space in Dawson 10. With the help of two part-time workers, Grant Loose and Nidhi Patel, she managed to have the entire graphic novel collection (900 books) unpacked and available on the first day. She also worked with IT to articulate which computers and printers needed to be set up, and her top priority was making sure that we would be open and ready for business on the first day of classes. There were a thousand little details to take care of, and somehow Mary Ann stayed on top of all of them.”
Knies praised Joyce’s commitment, saying, “Mary Ann’s work ethic and dedication to Penn State Scranton, and especially the students, is admirable. She is one-of-a-kind and I am so grateful to have her on the Library team.”
Congratulations Mary Ann!
The Employee of the Month recognition was initiated in 2016 by Wafa as a way of distinguishing staff members who "go above and beyond the call of duty" in serving Penn State Scranton.
Campus staff, faculty and students are encouraged to nominate staff members that deserve to be recognized for “going above and beyond.” The link for nominations can be found here.