Lion VoicesMarch 31, 2025

Cataloging Resources: How Andrea Parton Became the Librarian She Was Meant to Be

Written By: Ian Silvester

For Andrea Parton, libraries have always been part of her life. Raised by a library director, she spent her childhood entranced by the words filling the pages of books. In becoming the Discovery and Access Librarian for the Boreham Library at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, she embraced the calling she was meant for, even if she took a winding path to get there.

“That’s kind of typical for librarians,” she said with a laugh before diving into her story.

Parton grew up in Russellville, Arkansas, where her dad was the Library Director for the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center at Arkansas Tech University. She recalled many family trips visiting libraries across the country, which she credited to feeling comfortable in the quiet amongst the books.

“I feel at home in libraries. Every library I go into feels safe and familiar, even if it’s new,” she said.

Despite this sense of security and familiarity, Parton initially resisted following in her dad's footsteps.

She graduated from ATU in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in French and a minor in parks and recreation. On the suggestion of a professor’s wife from France, Parton was intrigued by the thought of traveling internationally to teach English as a second language.

After becoming certified to teach English in foreign countries, she landed in Japan. She spent five months teaching students before returning home to start her new family. Parton’s love for teaching overseas fueled her efforts to earn a master’s degree in English, emphasizing teaching English to speakers of other languages from ATU in 2012.

But her plans changed.

Shortly before completing her degree, the head of the English department approached Parton with an opportunity at home.

“He told me they needed adjuncts teaching English composition,” she said.

Shortly after starting as an adjunct, another opportunity emerged, which put Parton squarely on the path to her current position at UAFS.

“[Her dad] retired not long after I started teaching English Comp classes, and a part-time position opened up at the library to manage it on the weekends,” Parton recalled. “I loved it so much, I started my [second] master’s degree in library science almost immediately at Texas Woman’s University [completed in 2023].”

She would take on more responsibilities at the library, eventually phasing herself out of her near decade of teaching. As the library started a system migration, the technical services librarian approached Parton to become her assistant.

Parton learned about cataloging, processing materials, and best practices for technical services. Her supervisor encouraged her to apply at UAFS when the Discovery and Access Librarian role was posted.

“It just seemed too good to be true,” she said. “I was really nervous, and [former Boreham Library Director Jason Byrd] could tell. He didn’t want me to be, so during my interview, he said, ‘You’re the catalogs and metadata expert in the room; we’re all specialized in other areas.’”

It was the boost of confidence Parton needed. On April 4, 2022, she began working at UAFS.

Parton ensures new acquisitions are “properly cataloged, labeled, and going to the right place.” She is also the library system administrator and oversaw Boreham Library’s system migration to Worldshare Management Services.

“It was like stepping from the 90s into modern day,” she laughed. “The work I do behind the scenes is so much more streamlined, like it’s maybe a hundred or even a thousand times faster to catalog items in the system now.”

In addition to cataloging, Parton teaches the Student Academic Success course, “Bridge to Success Seminar,” or SAS 0201.

Whether she’s helping get materials on the shelves or into the hands of students, faculty, or staff, keeping track of a vast catalog, or teaching, Parton is most certainly doing the job she was always meant to do.

• Tags:
• Faculty Voices
• Boreham Library