Nancy Dryden retired from the position of Research & Instruction Librarian at the UConn Stamford Library on June 28, 2023.
Throughout her tenure, Nancy has been a beacon of knowledge, professionalism and dedication. Nancy joined UConn in 1981. Forty-two years later, she has had a huge positive impact on UConn Library across UConn’s Regional Campus Libraries and in collaboration with colleagues on the Storrs campus.
Nancy first worked as a cataloger/ILL Librarian at the Jeremy Richard Library at UConn Stamford at its former space on Scofieldtown Road. The UConn Stamford Campus relocated to its current location in the heart of downtown Stamford in 1998.
Nancy has held many positions within the library from cataloger, Head of Cataloging, Head of Technical Services, Director of the Jeremy Richard Library, and the Director of the Regional Campus Libraries for 11 years, which covered Avery Point, Greater Hartford, Stamford, Torrington and Waterbury.
As the Regional Campus Libraries Director, Nancy was instrumental in coordinating the learning commons projects at each regional campus library. Her work helped create beautiful and vibrant student-centered library spaces. At Stamford, Nancy led a project to build a wireless classroom, The Thomson eClassroom, from grant funds and a $200,000 donation from The Thomson Corporation (now Thomson-Reuters Corp). She also in collaboration with a past campus director, Dr. Michael M. Ego, had installed a WPA mural by Connecticut artist, James Daugherty in the library. This historic WPA mural is one of seven murals painted by James Daugherty and on loan from the City of Stamford.
Nancy has been an invaluable mentor and well-respected colleague of the UConn Stamford campus and her retirement is a tremendous loss to the many faculty, student, and staff she has engaged with for so many years. Her kindness, patience, and willingness to help our students has made the Jeremy Richard library a welcoming place. Her commitment and contribution to the UConn Library has significantly shaped its success. Her presence in our library will be sorely missed.
Please join us in wishing her a well-deserved retirement filled with relaxation and new adventures!
Written by Phara Bayonne, Director, UConn Library Stamford.