Caroline (Cal) Shepard (MSLS '77), State Librarian of North Carolina, has been selected as the 2013 School of Information and Library Science Distinguished Alumna at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Distinguished Alumni Award will be presented to Shepard during the School's commencement ceremony on May 13, 2013.
The award is presented by the SILS Alumni Association to those who demonstrate a high degree of professionalism and outstanding service to the profession and to the School of Information and Library Science. Those selected, exhibit a strong commitment to librarianship or information science and they are selected for the outstanding professional library or information science achievements at national, state or local levels.
“This is a great honor – I just hope I can live up to it!” said Shepard. “I already feel privileged to work with some of the best librarians in the nation, it is icing on the cake to get to work with staff and faculty at the best library school too! The State Library is exploring a collaborative project right now with Dean Marchionini and others from SILS and I expect out partnership to yield positive results for public libraries across North Carolina. Thank you for this honor, I am truly touched.”
Shepard began her appointment as State Librarian of North Carolina in March 2012. The State Library is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, which annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council and the State Archives. Cultural Resources champions North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy.
Shepard previously worked with SOLINET, the regional library consortium based in Atlanta, Ga., as educational services manager. She developed and implemented strategic and operational plans including marketing, service and project development, financial management, performance appraisal and salary administration. She created and managed training programs and presentations that were delivered to national and international audiences and established SOLINET’s first distance education program.
Following the creation of the expanded consortium LYRASIS in 2006, Shepard became director of Consulting Services, managing projects in the areas of strategic planning, staff development planning and five-year LSTA plan evaluation. She has provided facilitation for statewide initiatives for state libraries around the country and has been responsible for planning and presenting programs on library leadership and emerging issues such as technology and privacy.
She began her career in public library children’s services, first in the Nantahala Regional Library System in western North Carolina, then at the Forsyth County Public Library in Winston-Salem. Shepard worked at the State Library of North Carolina from 1993 until 1999, first as Youth Services Consultant and then as the chief of library development, supervising statewide library services and overseeing state and federal grant programs for North Carolina’s libraries.
The SILS commencement ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. Due to limited seating, tickets are required to attend the commencement ceremony.
