After 10 years of service at the Graduate Center Library, Associate Librarian for Collection Management Jane Brodsky Fitzpatrick retired last week.

Melissa Longhi, Serials Assistant, and Jane Fitzpatrick, newly retired Associate Librarian for Collection Management

Jane came to the Graduate Center Library in 2004 after ten years as the Head of Technical Services & Acquisitions at SUNY Maritime College. She earned her second master’s in the Graduate Center’s Liberal Studies program and turned her master’s thesis about Mrs. Filomena Magavero, one of the first female academic librarians, into a book, Mrs. Magavero: A History Based on the Career of an Academic Librarian (Library Juice Press, 2007). Another of Jane’s accomplishments was serving as the president of the Library Association of CUNY (LACUNY) in 2009-2010.

Chief Librarian Polly Thistlethwaite wishes Jane farewell

Mrs. Magavero and other current and former colleagues were in attendance at Jane’s retirement party on June 10 in the GC’s Skylight Room. The party was orchestrated by Serials Assistant Melissa Longhi, who filled the room with flowers, festivities, and well-wishers. On behalf of the library, Chief Librarian Polly Thistlethwaite thanked Jane for her contributions to the library and bid her farewell, and Melissa presented her with a group gift in a distinctive but familiar blue box.

In the audio clip below, Adjunct Reference Librarian Kai Alexis Smith interviews Jane, who reflects on her second career as a librarian and offers insights to incoming librarians beginning in the field:

All of us at the Graduate Center Library wish Jane a fond farewell and best wishes for her retirement.