Meet Judy Mowrey, A Distinguished Educator

Judy Mowrey has provided 19 years of exemplary service to the students of De Anza College through her work in the Library. Her talents and interests in the area of technology have rendered her the catalytic force that automated library services, trains and shepherds colleagues through systems implementations, and assists students in a professional and approachable fashion.

As the coordinator of the Open Media Lab, which serves approximately 1,000 users per day, Judy is called upon to troubleshoot in a multitude of areas. "A less resilient person might flee from the relentless demands and pressures associated with a highly utilized facility," said Judy Miner, vice president of Instruction. "But Judy welcomes the challenges with determination, equanimity, and even humor. She has distinguished herself over the years by consistently performing above and beyond the call of duty."

Judy started out teaching in elementary school, then high school, but it wasn't until she became a librarian that she really found her place in education. "I liked working with students, but found my real love was helping them find the best information and information sources available," she said. "The person who got me going in the right direction was the high school librarian where I was teaching, who had a real passion for how computers would change the face of education. This was in 1970, long before the age of the PC and the Internet."

Judy said that the biggest change in her teaching has been in the use of computers and the Internet. "Research is not the same tedious process it was when I was a student. There is so much more information available now that a big part of my job is making the best resources available to De Anza students and then helping them find the most appropriate items for their own projects."

Dean of Library Services Jim McCarthy has been Judy's immediate supervisor for her whole career at De Anza. "I served on her hiring committee when Judy was brought in to provide library services for our extended campus in Sunnyvale," Jim said.

In the late 1980s, De Anza's Sunnyvale Campus had a large percentage of minorities, primarily Vietnamese and Latino. Judy was instrumental in developing and providing library services to this population. When the Sunnyvale Campus was closed, Judy was moved to the main campus Library. She brought all of the diversity skills she developed at the Sunnyvale Campus to her work in the main campus Library, first as head of Circulation/Reserves and later as Automation and Open Media Lab librarian.

De Anza students make heavy use of the Circulation/Reserves and the Open Media Lab. "Both of these areas rely on student assistants to provide library service to the campus population," Jim said. "Demonstrating her dedication to diversity, Judy always makes sure that our student employee hiring mirrors the diverse makeup of the campus population."

Fellow librarian Tom Dolen said he was a bit nervous when he started working at De Anza in September 2002. But right from the start, Judy offered encouragement and support. "Judy's a nurturer. She is a resource and a problem solver and uses these traits when she helps students at the Reference Desk or in library instruction sessions," he said. "Just by observing, you can see that students quickly know that Judy is on their side, that she understands the demands of their busy lives, and that she truly cares about their success."

"Judy inspires me by her full engagement in all facets of academic library work," Tom added. "She somehow gracefully manages to juggle the roles of systems librarian, reference librarian and instructional librarian. In addition, Judy is fully engaged in campus-wide issues by serving on the Instructional Budget and Planning Team and the new De Anza College Technology Taskforce."

Judy doesn't just juggle her assigned roles; she steps into new ones as duty calls. "The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake toppled almost half of the book stacks on the second floor of the Library," Jim said. "Thousands of books wound up scattered in piles on the floor. Once the shelving was re-installed, it was Judy who voluntarily spearheaded the effort to quickly and efficiently get the books organized, back on the shelves, and available for check out by students. The Library Expansion/Remodel Project in the mid-90's made it necessary to move and shift the entire 70,000-plus-book collection – twice. Once again, Judy voluntarily assumed the primary leadership role and successfully completed this massive project."

Judy's love of her job and dedication to the college were recently demonstrated in her involvement with the Accreditation Self-Study process. Not only did she co-write a large portion of Standard II (Student Learning Programs and Services), she volunteered to co-chair Standard III (Resources). Her involvement in accreditation, alone, represented a full-time job. And yet she took this on and continued to perform all of her Library responsibilities in an exemplary manner.

"I really like the interaction with students, seeing them be successful," Judy said. "As a librarian, I want them to know how to find information, because that is a skill they will use all their lives, not just while they are students. As a human being, I hope they use the knowledge they find to improve the world, in whatever field is best for them."

Judy is humble as well. "I appreciate this award, but want to stress that in the Library we work as a team to provide student-centered service to the campus, and that anything I accomplish is as a part of that effort."

"Her commitment to students is profound and she is a tireless advocate in pursuit of resources that support high quality educational experiences at De Anza," said Vice President Miner. "Faculty respect her expertise and rely on her leadership. She is truly a distinguished educator!"

Judy chose "Son of the Rough South" by Karl Fleming from Vice President Miner's stash of autographed books.