By Amelia Kibbe
Advisory Editor
For Ann Tenglund, as associate director for St. Bonaventure’s library, what began as a student job in the library her freshman year of college became a lifelong career.
Tenglund, an Olean, New York, native, came to nearby Bonaventure after high school to study two different fields — elementary education and secondary business.
“[The combination] was something I was interested in,” said Tenglund, who initially planned on teaching after graduation. “I couldn’t get that any place else, and that just made the decision to come to Bonaventure that much easier.”
Early in her first semester, she got a job working the front desk at the Friedsam Memorial Library, and there she discovered her love for the work she did and the building’s atmosphere.
“Along the way, I found librarianship,” she said.
After graduating with her bachelor’s, she returned to Bonaventure to obtain a master’s in reading literacy. She also began a full-time job in cataloging at the library, she said.
She soon got promoted to the coordinator of library computer services — where, in the years she held the position, she focused on new instruction programs — and at the same time earned a library degree through a distance program through Syracuse University.
Then, two years ago, she became the associate director, while at the same time keeping nearly all of her old duties.
Tenglund said her day-to-day list of tasks includes anything from manning the front reference desk, preparing library training sessions, monitoring the library’s budget and writing administrative reports. Although she has done much to help the library advance electronically and technologically, she emphasized the library also remains a home for print publications.
“I really enjoy everything, which is really nice about this job,” she said. “It’s not really work sometimes because it’s what I want to do, so that makes it very nice.”
However, Tenglund’s experience has reached beyond the Bonaventure community.
Tenglund said she serves as a member of the board of trustees for the Olean Public Library, where she just began her second five-year term. First elected to a seat in May of 2011, she now serves as secretary, she added.
Since 2008, she has served on the board of trustees for the Western New York Library Resources Council, a non-profit organization serving Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties. Additionally, in the past, she served a year-long term as its president.
And when she’s not taking minutes for a library organization, she said she’s busy helping to keep the faculty senate at Bonaventure running smoothly.
As a non-teaching representative on the approximately 20-member senate, Tenglund serves as the vice chair, she said. The senate, she explained, comprises of a body of faculty from different academic areas, as well as a student representative, usually filled by the current Student Government Association president. Each meeting she records details and minutes.
“My computer just kind of comes with me everywhere I go,” she joked. “For me, it’s an easy way to give back to a group. It’s really nice that people appreciate what I do. When it was my turn one time, everyone liked the minutes so much that they wanted me to keep doing them. It’s turned into a lot more than just minutes. It’s updating the [group’s] website, keeping the documents straight, processing any paperwork…”
She added her librarian background provided her with a great foundation and allowed her to slide right into the job.
But, when she’s not keeping minutes or teaching classes in the library, she enjoys saying hello to the many students who pass by her desk each day.
“Students can always stop by the desk,” she said. “We never want students to feel frustrated because they can’t find things…Everybody says Bonaventure is a special place, but it really is. We have a unique opportunity here to help students. You don’t always feel that elsewhere.”
kibbea13@bonaventure.edu
