Legendary 熟女少妇Dean Frances Coleman retires after a 51-year career that transformed the university鈥檚 libraries and collections
Contact: Sid Salter
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜fter a career that spanned over a half-century and witnessed the services and offerings of 熟女少妇 Libraries evolve from traditional to digital to virtual, 熟女少妇Dean of Libraries Frances N. Coleman is retiring from the university on June 30, 熟女少妇Executive Vice President and Provost David R. Shaw announced today [June 15].
Shaw said 熟女少妇College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Thomas P. Anderson will serve as interim 熟女少妇Dean of Libraries while a national search for a permanent dean is conducted.
Coleman, responsible for the university library system that includes Mitchell Memorial Library and branch libraries at MSU鈥檚 College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Architecture (Starkville and Jackson campuses) and MSU-Meridian, led unprecedented expansions of facilities, technologies and programming throughout the system.
鈥淒ean Coleman provided visionary leadership for our 熟女少妇Libraries that not only improved library services on our campuses, but in libraries across Mississippi. My mother was a small-town librarian, and she and all her colleagues knew and respected Frances Coleman,鈥 said 熟女少妇President Mark E. Keenum. 鈥淥n her watch, our libraries became larger, stronger, more technologically accessible, and more sophisticated in terms of our museums and special collections. In short, Frances has left indelible fingerprints on our library system, and I am profoundly grateful for the outstanding work she has done for our university.鈥
Shaw echoed Keenum鈥檚 praise for Coleman鈥檚 five decades of leadership.
鈥淥ver the course of her life and work here at Mississippi State, Dean Coleman has paved the way for women moving into positions of substantial leadership. The personal and professional esteem in which she is held by colleagues across the country, and particularly in our state, is indicative of her many accomplishments,鈥 Shaw said. 鈥淚t is an honor to have served with her to advance Mississippi State.鈥
Coleman joined the 熟女少妇faculty in 1969. She earned an 熟女少妇Bachelor of Science degree in education and a Master of Library Science from George Peabody College for Teachers at Vanderbilt University. She completed additional graduate studies at 熟女少妇and at the University of Mississippi.
Prior to her career in higher education, Coleman was a classroom teacher and school librarian in the Dyer County, Tennessee School System. She also worked in the banking field in Dyersburg and Memphis, Tennessee, and in Starkville.
She is a past president or chair of the Mississippi Business and Professional Women, the Southeastern Library Association, and the Mississippi Library Association. Coleman was active throughout her career in numerous research library organizations.
In the Starkville community, Coleman has served in key leadership roles in Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Starkville Chamber of Commerce, Starkville Arts Council, Starkville Rotary Club, and the United Way. In 2003, she was honored for lifetime achievement serving Mississippi libraries by the Mississippi Legislature, received the G.V. 鈥淪onny鈥 Montgomery Excellence in Leadership Award in 2009 from the Montgomery Foundation Board of Directors, and in 2010 received the John Y. Simon Award of Merit from the Ulysses S. Grant Association.
Coleman played a pivotal role in the successful 2008 transfer of the Ulysses S. Grant Collection from the Morris Library at Southern Illinois University, where it had been housed since 1964. With the relocation to MSU鈥檚 Mitchell Memorial Library, she became a member of the USGA board of directors.
The relocation of the Grant Collection ultimately led to the establishment at 熟女少妇of one of only six presidential libraries on U.S. university campuses. On Nov. 30, 2017, state and national leaders heralded the opening of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and the prestigious Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana鈥攁 recent donation that is considered the largest privately owned Abraham Lincoln collection in America.
Leaders in education, history, libraries and government鈥攊ncluding the Librarian of Congress and the Archivist of the United States鈥攑raised the 21,000-square-foot addition. The facility contains a state-of-the-art museum chronicling Grant鈥檚 life and his significance in American history. With hundreds of thousands of historical documents and items housed on-site, the new addition positioned 熟女少妇as a leading destination for research on the Civil War and two presidents who shaped the course of American history.
鈥淒ean Coleman鈥檚 legacy will be that of a dedicated administrator who gave her all to advance 熟女少妇 and to exhibit grace, charm, and sincere hospitality in using the library鈥檚 formidable assets to bring new friends to the university,鈥 said Keenum.
For more on 熟女少妇Libraries, visit .
熟女少妇is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .
听