Teresa Walker, Retired Associate Dean of Libraries
UT Libraries maven Teresa Braden Walker retired in summer 2024. In her 29 years of service—the last 11 as associate dean—she led many initiatives that introduced new services for library users. She helped implement the Libraries’ first online reference services and headed the department that, for the first time, focused on providing learning spaces, services, and technologies on a 24-hour basis. Walker also played a key role in creating student-centered spaces in the library and in academic buildings around campus.
During her career, she nurtured and mentored many library staff members who became colleagues and others who now serve in leadership positions around the country.
Upon retirement, Walker was granted the status of professor emerita in recognition of her contributions to the university.
How did you end up at UT Libraries?
I came to UT Libraries as a student assistant in Documents and Microforms, providing government documents to people. Documents and Microforms put me on a good path. Janette Prescod was head of the department, and she was amazing. She was the smartest person I had ever met. She was nurturing and kind but also intimidating because she knew so much. She always took the time to teach me whatever I wanted to know. It made me so empowered and gave me the level of confidence to be an expert and find answers for others. In previous jobs, it was about trying to please people. This was the first time I started feeling that what I was learning was valuable expertise. I must have been a sophomore, and I stayed through my senior year. When I graduated, I applied for a job in the Libraries’ Auxiliary Services. I never left.
What made you stay?
The people. To be honest, key people who were very generous with their time and expertise and shared that with me. The amount of support I got and appreciation I felt for the job I did made me want to do more and more for the organization. I used to joke that I thought Felicia Harris Hoehne was my mother. She was a reference librarian and—as she did for so many other kids—she took me under her wing.
What changes did you observe during almost 30 years at the libraries?
The first change I saw was that the internet became the thing everyone was using—and not just scientists in a lab. We were able to request an article to be downloaded at my computer from the University of Chicago. Three hours later, we could read it. That one major change happened, and suddenly there was this ripple effect. The internet was now fast enough to use in real time. We had been using all paper indexes, and suddenly we were using online indexes. In some ways, that was my first love in the workplace: helping people use technology for academic purposes.
What was the most impactful change of your career?
The creation of the Commons. Rita Smith [former executive associate dean of libraries] led the task force to make recommendations about the Commons. Rita and I worked so well together because she’s such a planner and I was such an imaginer. We wanted the library to be a place that students wanted to be, whether they were studying or hanging out. We dreamed about making it a 24-hour space that is inspiring to students. Now students can find different campus partners like the Math Tutorial Center or Writing Center in the Commons. They can now get academic coaching and help with research, writing, and math—right in the library.
What are you most proud of?
My career very much became about creating vibrant technology-rich learning spaces. That expertise led to consulting with other libraries around the country and the world, and helping with classroom spaces on campus. My most memorable was working with the director of female libraries at the University of Dammam in Saudi Arabia.
Around that time, Gayle Baker invited me to be part of the Lib Value Project, which reassessed how students were using our spaces. We paired that with data and showed the value of the Commons to students.
On the UT campus, I was part of the group that worked on the Humanities and Social Sciences Building redesign for mobile desks and teaching pedagogy. We created a model classroom in the library before deploying it across campus. We did pilot projects to examine online learning and what that looked like for students.
The Commons was such a wonderful success with students, and I wanted it to be a success with instructors too. I did a lot of little projects along the way, inviting professors to come in and teach in the Commons. It was different than what they had done before. We had a philosophy professor hang a painting in the Commons and put a couch around it so students could sit and study the painting and write about it.
It made us start thinking about student success, not just at Hodges but at the branch libraries too. Through partnerships with people around campus, we have built some great things with a focus on student success.
As I moved into administration, it became about supporting other people, brilliant people, as they imagined new ways to serve people in technology-rich spaces.
We have found wonderful ways to support students from freshman year all the way up to graduate students. But some of the most gratifying work has been with [Assistant Dean for Community Learning and Engagement] Thura Mack and her outreach program. She’s taking information literacy and all these rich library resources to K–12 students. Through hands-on experiences, we help them see themselves as college students. We’re making them feel empowered in the way I felt when I started working for Janette. It has come full circle.
What made you feel good about leaving?
We have more amazing people working in the library than ever before. Just thinking about my direct reports alone. . . . I feel good about walking away and leaving them in charge. I feel that the commitment we have to the success of library users, no matter what their discipline or level, continues to drive everything. The library is in very good hands and very good brains.
Why is Halloween your favorite holiday?
Have you seen the movie What About Bob? If you’re pretending you’re dying, you’re not dead. What I love best about Halloween is that you can take some of the scariest things in the world and embrace them and play around and have fun with them. Halloween is a way I express myself—in the same way I love that in the library world I’ve been able to create thrilling environments for people. We create something that will genuinely surprise and delight all the kids that come through.
What brings you joy?
I love roller-skating. I have the roller skates that I had when I was in fourth grade. They still fit but are worn out. I have a newer pair that are a little more supportive. I also love animals. It is very common for a person I don’t know to say, “Why do you know my dog?”
What is the most interesting thing in your fridge?
It’s something that’s been there for more than 20 years. Wes Knott, who used to work at the library, got fake fishing bait worms and made them look like a canned jar of worms. We leave it in the fridge so when people look in there, they will say, “What the heck is that?” There will always be quirky things in my fridge.
