By Alyssa Maxwell
Reporter
Baylor’s libraries are aiming to increase the number of endowed internships sponsored through the Sue Margaret Hughes Library Internship Fund, with the ultimate goal of two per library.
The Sue Margaret Hughes Library Internship Fund was named in honor of Dr. Hughes, a former Baylor library employee of 31 years, and is part of the $100 million President’s Scholarship Initiative.
The fund will provide internships to students interested in gaining professional experience in a library setting.
Students walking down to the garden level of Moody Library and into the Vice President of Information and Technology and Dean of the University Libraries office area may notice a black plaque trimmed in gold that honors Hughes’ service to the university.
“She is a sweetheart, very intelligent and sharp as a tack,” Pattie Orr, vice president for information technology and dean of university libraries, said. “She took me under her wing.”
Hughes served in the Baylor libraries in a variety of roles, such as acquisitions librarian, Moody librarian and university librarian.
“Sue Margaret Hughes was working the day they opened Moody,” Orr said. “Before she retired, she helped plan Jones Library.”
She gained respect from her colleagues by working to improve the libraries. She kept the students close to her heart and ultimately put their interests first, sources said.
“She is a quiet, calm and serious person,” Lori Evers, budget associate for libraries and administrative assistant to Hughes for seven years, said. “Her office was filled with books. There was no space not covered with a stack of books.”
The Board of Library Advisers deliberated when deciding who to name the scholarship fund after, but eventually agreed on Hughes.
“The Board of Library Advisers met last spring in Independence and decided to contribute to making an endowed fund of a minimum of $25,000,” Orr said.
The Endowed Scholarship Fund will support student learning and growth and enhance the educational experience.
The internships will occur each summer and are open to all students regardless of graduate or undergraduate status.
“There is a preference for graduate students, but anyone can apply,” Orr said.
Orr said students from a variety of majors could be considered, though the libraries’ needs would determine which major got preference.
A student majoring in film and digital media might be matched with an internship focused on digitizing editions of The Baylor Lariat, while a history major may be suited for an internship in the Texas Collection Library.
The internships offer in-depth, hands-on instruction in a variety of career areas in the Baylor libraries. Enrichment opportunities will be available during the internships.
These could include trips to the Harry Ransom Center at University of Texas at Austin and the presidential libraries, Orr said.
The libraries used the $25,000 contributed to the fund for five internships last year, although not all of those were endowed.
“Ultimately our goal will be to have 10 endowed internships,” Orr said.
A private reception will be held this Thursday for Hughes at Armstrong Browning Library.
The reception will publicly announce the Sue Margaret Hughes Library Internship Endowed Scholarship Fund and honor the former university librarian.
Students can apply for internships at www.baylor.edu/lib/give.
