IT’S IN THE DETAILS by SARAH BLANCHARD
a v e m a r i a m a g a z i n e | s p r i n g 2016
Jennifer Nodes works to keep the library crisp with content to inspire and intrigue.
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A L I B R A R Y C A N S I M P LY B E a building filled with books, but it has the potential to be so much more. At AMU, it’s a place where professors do a lot of their thinking, and students do a lot of their studying. Research happens, classes meet, study groups gather, and ideas are formed. All day long, there is a steady stream of people coming in and out of its doors. For many, there isn’t a day of Left: Marie Constantin’s “Photographs of the semester that passes Mother Teresa” exhibit without their setting foot into the library. Right: Director of Library Services “The Library is the heart Jennifer Nodes of the University; it may Below: Students not draw much attention prepare for final exams to itself, but it is vital.” in the library That’s how Jennifer Nodes expresses the role of the library in the life of the University. Miss Nodes, who is Director of the Library, works behind the scenes to help make this heartbeat possible. In 2005, Miss Nodes came to AMU to found the Rare Books Department and to start the University archives. As Curator of the Rare Books and Special Collections Department, she oversees the University’s holdings of rare books, manuscripts, and artwork. “When I heard about a collection being developed at a new campus,” she reflects, “I was interested in the challenge of building something from the ground up.” She left her position as a member of the Research staff of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and came down to Southwest Florida. Miss Nodes received her Bachelor’s degree in English and Art from Northwest
Missouri State University, and her Master’s in Library and Information Science with an emphasis in Museum Studies from Dominican University, Chicago. Her educational background made it a natural fit for her to oversee the installation of the University’s art collection as Ave Maria settled into its permanent campus. During that process, Miss Nodes saw the potential for using the second floor of the Canizaro Library as a gallery space. In 2008, she had a picture hanging system installed.