Mark Schumacher, reference librarian and associate professor for University Libraries, will retire on June 30, 2020, after a 42-year career in librarianship at UNC Greensboro. Schumacher has served in this role since 1978. As a reference librarian, he has been a liaison for many departments across campus, including art, classical studies, languages, literatures and cultures, theatre, interior architecture, community and therapeutic recreation, mathematics and international and global studies.
Additionally, he provides librarian outreach to several UNCG programs, including Intercollegiate Athletics, the International Programs Center, the Strong Residential College and the Lloyd International Honors College. Schumacher’s 14 publications in NC DOCKS have been downloaded an amazing 31,000 times.
Schumacher is the first librarian that students encounter in the Summer Orientation Advising Registration (SOAR) program and is well known across campus. According to one colleague, “Mark is the face of the library and a piece of the library will be missing without him.” Many students who graduated decades ago still come back to see him even today. Another co-worker stated, “Mark is passionate about helping others find the information they need at the library.”
He has also been a member of many professional organizations, including the American Library Association (ALA) and the North Carolina Library Association (NCLA). His service to the profession and the University has included terms on the executive board of NCLA’s Reference & Adult Services Section (RASS) from 1995 until 2008; UNCG’s Dean of Students’ Conduct and Academic Integrity Hearing Panels since 1995; and the executive board of UNCG’s Phi Beta Kappa from 1999 until 2001 and again since 2003 to the present, as well as the recording secretary from 2005 until 2020. From 1979 until 2009, Schumacher volunteered to write abstracts of historical journal articles for “Historical Abstracts” and “America: History and Life” totaling 5,576 abstracts.
Schumacher received his bachelor of arts degree in French from Stanford University and a master of arts in French and his MLS from SUNY at Buffalo. He always sets a welcoming tone in the library and ensures people know the library is there to help them. Additionally, Schumacher has donated more than 700 books in memory of his mother to UNCG’s Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections & University Archives. In his free time, Schumacher enjoys ultimate frisbee, magic tricks and cheering on UNCG Athletics.
Written by Holly C. Shields.
