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[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” width=”100%” max_height=”1028px” custom_margin=”1px|auto|1px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”11px|54px||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Didact Gothic||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”18px” header_2_font=”Didact Gothic||||||||” header_2_text_color=”#006484″ text_orientation=”justified” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” header_2_font_size=”30px” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n Jim Vastine shared his memories of the old building and how the staff worked and played together. \u201cWe used to be a closer-knit \u2018family.\u2019\u201d He said. \u201cAs we\u2019ve gotten larger and more spaced-out we tend to have lost some of that camaraderie that we used to have.\u201d The Reference Department was located on the second floor, and so was Cataloging. Catalogers would have to walk through the Reference Department to get to the lobby and bathrooms. The frequent traffic encouraged friendly taunting and arguments between the personnel of the two departments. “Literally, the office where we worked was a passageway. To make it even more of a gathering place, the staff elevator emptied off right into the middle of the reference office.\u201d The light-hearted conflict quickly gave way to camaraderie.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Physical processing occupied a small space in the basement, adjacent to the television and radio stations. The loading docks ran directly into this part of the library, so any shipments to the stations went through physical processing. The library and media stations engaged in frequent conflicts over the meager space available. When the stations erected an antenna on the roof, some feared it would only be a matter of time before the stations squeezed the library out of the building. With so little room, departments gained and surrendered space on a regular basis, depending upon priorities. Working beside the then student-run radio station had its advantages. Walter Rowe remembers seeing various luminaries walking into the station for on-air interviews, including Jacques Cousteau and future U.S. President Jimmy Carter.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Library-wide parties tended to be more festive in the old days, says Rowe. \u201cWe had these huge dinners,\u201d Rowe remembers, with some employees exhibiting exceptional cooking skills. \u201cIt was more like a family then. In those days, I honestly felt like I was hanging out with my buddies. It was a smaller environment. It was a different world. A lot of these people are still very close friends. We were very lucky. I remember doing a river trip up in Ocala [in 1975]. You didn\u2019t know who was a librarian and who was an LTA, clerk or whatever. We were just a bunch of guys who worked in a library and we were hanging out.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/lib.usf.edu\/library50thanniversary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/02\/y-0014-JimVastineandSam.jpg” title_text=”y-0014-JimVastineandSam” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” width=”50%” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Didact Gothic||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”18px” text_orientation=”justified” width=”100%” custom_padding=”|0px||0px||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The spirit of cooperation carried over into the workplace. In 1974, Mary Lou Harkness established a library staff committee, with each department contributing a representative. The committee met every month, solicited problems from the staff, worked up solutions or, if necessary, referred the matter to a higher authority with its recommendations. <\/span> Improvements proceeded at a rapid pace during the 1980s and 90s. Student identification cards with magnetic strips replaced IBM punch cards. Catalogers went from changing one line of each record at a time in OCLC\u2014and waiting for the slow computers to process them\u2014to much faster online systems. Then catalogers waited for the cards to arrive for filing in the drawers of the card catalog. Card catalogs gave way to searchable online catalogs around 1986. Keeth went from writing new acquisitions on index cards to entering them into a computer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/lib.usf.edu\/library50thanniversary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/02\/jane-ginny-betty-sam-1.jpeg” title_text=”jane-ginny-betty-sam” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” width=”51%” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|||238px||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Didact Gothic||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”18px” text_orientation=”justified” custom_margin=”||43px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The library has progressed so much so that it seems unlikely that our 21st Century patrons would have the patience for the library of old, and some old-school librarians would not have the patience to learn today\u2019s technology. Present-day students rarely have the patience for printers and slow Internet access, never mind filling out forms to check out books and keeping track of IBM cards. Progress is not always fun or easy, but its fruits are many, and the library functions on a scale and efficiency that could scarcely be imagined in 1960.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Oral History Program at the USF Libraries recorded the thoughts and memories of over 200 current and former students, faculty, administrators, and community friends in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the University. The memories of several library personnel were included:<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe library would have these huge picnics, generally at Lowry Park, because they allowed beer, of course. We\u2019d play softball\u2014we were all a lot younger then\u2014and play volleyball. We\u2019d have people who could really cook. It was a wonderful event that you really wanted to go to.\u201d<\/h3>\n
<\/span> Vastine commented:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n
\u201cThey were given free rein to contact any one on campus. If there was something involving a stinky drain in the bathroom, like today, we had full rein to contact the Physical Plant and talk to them about it. When all else failed, we\u2019d go to Mary Lou\u2026 . We\u2019d make recommendations on library policy, and she could take it or leave it. When the library staff committee first met, we had a list of items about a yard long, at least. What we found was that over the years, the committee almost became unnecessary because there were no problems anymore because the committee would usually solve them on their own.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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