Hodges named SC State dean of library and information services

Dr. Ruth A. Hodges has been named dean of the library and information services at South Carolina State University’s Miller F. Whittaker Library.

“Dr. Hodges has demonstrated her commitment to SC State University by serving as the interim dean of the library for many years,” said Dr. Frederik Evans, SC State provost and vice president for academic affairs. “I am excited that Dr. Hodges applied for the advertised position and was properly vetted and recommended for the appointment.”

“Dr. Hodges’ work speaks volumes of her level of readiness and qualifications for the position,” Evans said.

Prior to coming to SC State, Hodges worked in Bethesda, Maryland’s National Institutes of Health and Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian Institution, the National Academy of Sciences, Howard University, and District of Columbia General Hospital.

Hodges’ initial work at SC State was the coordinator of library instruction, as she led the library’s development and implementation of its credit-bearing information literacy course. As interim dean since 2016, she has long advocated for the health, safety, accessibility, and related needs of students, faculty, staff, and library personnel.

Some of her key accomplishments as interim dean include:

• Procured additional funding for the library through collaborative grant writing and alumni donations.
• Renovated individual and collaborative workspaces, incorporating technology in the library to enhance innovation, study, research, and student success.
• Implemented library programming for students, faculty, alumni, and the community (faculty and alumni publications on the library website; and professional development workshops at the library).
• Collaboratively sponsored a national workshop on Open Educational Resources for HBCU academic librarians and their faculty cohorts.
• Disseminated 4,000 solar eclipse glasses to the campus and community (NASA award for the 2017 solar eclipse).
• Resurrected and completed the Miller F. Whittaker Wall of Friends initiative.

“I thank God, Provost Evans, and President Alexander Conyers for affording me the opportunity to extend the library’s vision, and to support the administration in fulfilling the university’s mission and taking the library and university to the next level,” Hodges said. “Thus, I am excited and hopeful about the request to the SC General Assembly to support the funding of a new library.”

In collaboration with the library team and others, Hodges implemented the state-of-the-art technological enhancement in the library, including a new website driven by LibGuides, which incorporates a chat reference service, self-reserve study/conference rooms service, online tutorials, among other resources, and services.

Hodges also implemented a shared library services platform, which includes the online catalog, and allows collaborative internal and state-wide workflows for cataloging, interlibrary loan and collection development.

A Marquis Who’s Who listee, Hodges has presented at professional conferences and served on local, state and national committees. She has published articles in refereed and other professional literature.

Hodges has a PhD in information studies from Florida State University, a master’s in library and information science and master’s degrees in biology from Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University), and a bachelor’s degree in biology from SC State.

She is the daughter of the late Clyde and Mary L. Hodges of Smoaks.