Although the new director of the School of Library Science never imagined her career would bring her to West Virginia, she always knew she had a passion for libraries – a passion which she said she is excited to bring to Marshall University.
“I think I was born a librarian,” Anne Marie Casey said. “I wanted to know about information from the time I was a little kid, so going into this field made total sense to me.”
“I feel like my goal in life is to connect people with the proper information and training other people to be able to do that has sort of been a mission rather than a job,” she added.
Having officially retired as the library director at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2023, Casey only intends to serve as the school’s director until January, when the Master of Science in Library Science program launches.
Over the next five months, though, Casey will be working to recruit a permanent director for the School of Library Sciences, regularly meeting with others involved in the program and attending conferences to raise awareness for the library science degree, which is exclusive to Marshall in the state of West Virginia.
With a four-decade-long career in academia and librarianship that has taken her across the country, Casey said she looks forward to seeing the change the MSLS degree will bring to this state.
“There is a shortage in West Virginia but primarily in the public library system,” she said. “There’s 660 employees in 171 public libraries, but only 12% of them have the master’s degree – the master of library science – which technically, in our field, qualifies you to use the term librarian.”
Casey said the MSLS degree is essentially designed for those who are already working in public libraries. Depending on their area of interest, the degree will provide them with the knowledge necessary to hone their skills and potentially move up in the profession.
Students interested in back-of-the-house duties, for instance, will learn the best practices for acquiring materials for the library and providing access to them, while students interested in front-of-the-house duties will be trained to know what resources are available at the moment and what resources best suit a patron’s needs, she said.
Overall, Casey said earning a degree in library science is about much more than just reading every book on the shelf.
“The field of library science is one in which we learn about our community,” she said.
“It’s really a social science. How do I learn how to speak to you? How do I learn how to get the right materials that are available for you and have the material there so when you need to find it, you can find it – even if it’s at 2:00 in the morning and the doors are closed,” she added.
Reading may not be everything to the degree, but Casey said it is, of course, an important part of her life.
“I would say my favorite of all time is ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” the library director said. “I’ve probably read it 20 times.”
Aside from reading, Casey said she also enjoys traveling and baking, and she maintains a consulting business where she works with the Florida Library Association, helping with strategic planning.
Although she will remain in her Florida home during her stint as the library school’s director, Casey said she looks forward to her trips to West Virginia and hopes to explore the state more. She would also like to teach for Marshall’s program once it has a permanent director.
Baylee Parsons can be contacted at [email protected].
