By Leah Knibbe | Echo
If you walk into the Zondervan Library on any weekday, you might hear pop rock or classical music coming from a distant corner. This is because Jo Ann Cosgrove, the Inter-Library Loan Coordinator, does not like to work in silence.
Though many students rely on her for long papers or research projects , her work is mostly done behind the scenes. At students and other library users' request, Jo Ann scours the collections of other libraries for useful books, articles and other media that Zondervan doesn't own. The other libraries lend them to Zondervan-which lends them to students-and Zondervan in turn lends items in its collection to other libraries.
"I will order everything that people need and I provide the material for other libraries that we own," Jo Ann said. "The workload is the heaviest when papers are due." After almost 26 years of being in this position, Jo Ann can easily guess topics. "I can tell what everybody's papers for (Expository Writing) are," said Jo Ann.
Jo Ann has considered Upland home for about three decades but is originally from Dallas, Texas. She misses the nice weather, but wouldn't trade her work here for anything.
When Jo Ann was looking to attend college, she wasn't searching for something related to English literature or library science.
"I always knew I wanted to be a social worker," Jo Ann said. She attended a college fair and asked each one if they had a social work program. The college with the most enthusiastic admissions representative won her over. "I loved The University of Oklahoma," she said.
After graduation, Jo Ann moved back to Dallas and spent six months searching for a job, finally landing a job as a social worker at a hospital. Jo Ann thought it was time to move on to something different after three years and happened to meet a man named Mark.
Mark, whom most students know as Dr. Cosgrove, worked for Probe Ministries, a branch of Campus Crusade. The organization's base was in Dallas, and he attended Jo Ann's home church. They met in a Sunday school "Career Class," but when Mark gave her a call to ask her out, she didn't remember who he was until he brought up what had transpired in their first conversation.
They dated for a few months long distance, Mark teaching at Taylor and Jo Ann still working in Dallas. He proposed over the phone, and after some thought and prayer, Jo Ann said yes.
Jo Ann's Taylor story began a few days after their wedding when she moved to join Mark in Upland. Since then, she raised three sons and accompanied Mark to Ireland for the Irish Studies Program nine times. All her sons graduated from Taylor, and she and Mark now have four grandchildren.
Constantly looking at books gives Jo Ann plenty of inspiration for reading material. "I do like books and I like reading so I see topics and things I never would have seen before. They'll either be asked of us and I know we own it or we send out for it and I think 'Oh, I'm going to read that next'," Jo Ann said. Her newest favorite is "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak.Jo Ann loved being a "stay at home" mom, but when her youngest son was in first grade the Inter-Library Loan position at Zondervan Library opened up. Even though she had a background in social work, Jo Ann applied and got the job.
Jo Ann loves her work, and sees it as an opportunity to continue helping people. Inter-Library Loan services are very important to students and faculty, and without them, learning would be more limited.
"What I like the most is the interaction with the students," Jo Ann said. "I'm very much a people person."
