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GASS’ LEGACY AT GTCC LIBRARY MORE THAN SHRINE TO BOOKS

BEVERLEY GASS HONORS Dr. Beverley Gass has received many honors during her career and been a member in several professional organizations. Among her most notable are: George Virgil Fuller Award for her outstanding dissertation at Columbia University. Order of the Long Leaf Pine given by Gov. Jim Hunt in 1999. N.C. Library Association president 1997-99. (Served in many capacities in that organization). Various positions with the NC LIVE Librarians Council, including chair of the council. President and founding member of N.C. Community College Library Administrators and a founding member of N.C. Community College Association of Distance Learning. Founder of GTCC Friends of the Library. Chair of NC LIVE; instrumental in hiring the organization's first executive director.

JAMESTOWN - Beverley Gass is best known in educational circles for her role in bringing cutting edge technology to GTCC's Learning Resource Center and other community college libraries across the state.
Yet, the genesis for her love for education was with a teacher who started her career in a one-room schoolhouse long before high tech impacted education -- her mother, Mildred Hughes Gass.

"Education was always considered important in our household," Gass said. Mildred Gass was the role model for Beverley, who said, "I always knew I would be a school teacher."  Her mother taught at Sulphur Springs School in Greene County, TN, before moving to larger schools.
Mildred Gass died Aug. 7, 2008, in Greeneville, TN, at age 98. Her husband, Letha Nathan Gass, a dental technician, passed away in 1964.

Gass, who was one of the innovators in establishing NC LIVE, the statewide digital library service, will retire Oct. 1 after 38.8 years with the college. She has served GTCC under five college presidents and has worked longer than any other employee of the 53-year-old school.

She is retiring as dean of student success services after beginning as a public service librarian in 1973. She was dean of Learning Resources before taking on her latest role.
Gass said her plans for retirement include spending more time with Anthony Bartholomew, "the significant other" person in her life since 1967.

"One of Beverley's many strengths was making sure that the GTCC library was truly a Learning Resource Center," said Carolyn Schneider, a retired division chair at GTCC. Gass adopted new technologies "a bit ahead of the college as a whole. One example of that would be the use of wireless technology, which the LRC got before everyone else. She knew it would help students do their academic work and, of course, their personal surfing as well," Schneider said.
"But Beverley never viewed LRC purely as a shrine to books. They welcomed students, knowing if they came for one thing, they would use the facility for their work," she said.

"The last couple of years, she has reinvented herself and kept growing as a professional by turning the library over to others as she was asked to work more directly with students. She spearheaded the academic success courses when those were spun off from Developmental Education. She taught some of the courses herself," Schneider said.   

"She did all of this with a real sense of style, as I would say she is one the best dressed people on campus," Schneider said.
It was not surprising to those who know Gass best that she has been successful in several areas of education. Letha and Mildred Gass' youngest of three daughters excelled in a variety of subjects but didn't quickly figure out which was her favorite subject. "I always liked math but I really didn't know who I was in high school," Gass said.

She started as home economics major at the University of Tennessee, and changed to secondary education. "I was an elementary school librarian in Chattanooga for three years, and then taught English one year at Chattanooga High School." she said. Gass also taught in Memphis for a couple years, and was children's librarian at a branch library there. That's where she found herself loving to conduct story times and book talks.

Gass took a break in her teaching career to earn a master's degree in library services at Emory University. She also earned a certificate in advanced librarianship and also a doctorate in library services at Columbia University.
It was at GTCC that she "got an opportunity to do a lot of different things," she said. "I've had several jobs here and had opportunities to grow," Gass said. "Of course, I used to know everybody who worked here."
Gass said, "I really have felt that I've made a difference in some lives in North Carolina but it hasn't been big things that I've done."

Tim Rogers, executive director of NC LIVE, said her impact was big as a founding member of a group that shared the library needs of colleges, universities and public libraries. "She led the charge among community colleges to establish a service that would provide high quality online content to all 58 campuses, regardless of local enrollment or funding," Rogers said.
Gass helped write the grant application for the NC LIibrary Information Technology Network project, which gave the organization a $225,000 financial start for the integrated library system consortium that includes GTCC and three other North Carolina community colleges.

Her involvement with digital information also made her a key player in GTCC becoming a leader in Distance Learning, according to Lee Kinard, executive assistant to the GTCC president. "This powerful tool empowered students to complete college courses without traveling to a campus for traditional classes," he said.

"In addition to founding the digital service, Dr. Gass was instrumental in spreading the word about NC LIVE and encouraging librarians and students to use it," Rogers said. "From 2006 to the present, Dr. Gass saw a 47 percent increase in usage byf NC community colleges, while no other group saw more than an eight percent increase," he said.

Carolyn Jordan, a GTCC communications management specialist, said, "Her leadership stands out in all situations. She tackles new endeavors with such a positive 'let's get it done' attitude. She communicates well with her staff. She thinks through processes, asking questions until she and everyone involved understands what our goal is and what we need to do to accomplish it," Jordan said.

Jordan sees traits in Gass that many who have worked with her at GTCC and elsewhere also applaud: "her wisdom, wit, love of work, people and life in general have been an inspiration."

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Contact: RoBurchette@gtcc.edu (Released 9/21/11)