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Fall 2002
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Jan Zlendich recently retired from an illustrious career as a librarian after 29 years of service at CSUF where she held various positions of responsibility in the libraries at Fullerton and the Mission Viejo Campus (now known as El Toro). Her position when she retired was that of Library Webmaster.
Jan graduated with a B.A. in History from MacMurray College and earned a Master’s in Library Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her first professional position was as a History and Literature Reference Librarian at the Cincinnati Public Library. It was here that she developed an interest in Spanish that led to a summer of study at the University of Guanajuato.
During the Kennedy era, Jan was inspired to serve as a volunteer in the newly created Peace Corps and, armed with her expertise in the Spanish language, served for over two years as a librarian at the Universidad Catolica del Norte in Antofagasta, Chile. Upon her return to the United States, Jan continued studies towards a Master’s degree in Spanish at Middlebury College and the University of Illinois. Always ready for new experiences-- and a warmer climate, she decided to take a job as the Latin American Bibliographer/Cataloger at the University of California, Riverside where she remained for five years before marrying, moving to Anaheim, and accepting a position at Fullerton.
Jan began her career at CSUF in what was then the Technical Services Department of the Library. She was recruited as the Romance Languages Cataloger and Head of the Pre-Cataloging Section. After several years, Jan became the Department Chair of Technical Services, responsible for all personnel and operations in the Acquisitions, Serials, Cataloging, Database Maintenance, and Government Documents Sections. It was during Jan’s years as Department Chair that the procurement of the Library’s online system took place. Jan served on the committee that wrote the RFP (Request for Proposal), reviewed vendor responses, and recommended the Library’s current online system vendor, Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
Over the years, Jan’s interest in Spanish expanded to all languages, and she eventually earned a Master’s in Linguistics at CSUF, doing her thesis research on Esperanto. Another kind of language had piqued Jan’s interest at this time, namely “computerese.” When the first Macintosh was introduced, Jan was one of the first in line to own one. In her own words, “…the minute I sat down at a computer I knew it was my future.” It was this new interest and her expertise in computer software and systems that led Jan to change career paths in 1993 and move to the Mission Viejo Campus as the sole Librarian in a completely electronic library. While at Mission Viejo, Jan worked with upper division students teaching them to use electronic resources and introducing them to the Internet. She also performed all reference and interlibrary loan functions.
It was Jan’s expertise with computers that prompted her reassignment to the main campus to serve as the Library Webmaster. The award-winning Pollak Library website you access today is the product of Jan’s imagination, creativity, coordination and hands-on expertise.
During her career, Jan was active in professional library associations, both locally and nationally. She also served on many Library and University committees. In answer to the question of what she would miss most in retirement, without hesitation Jan replied, “the wonderful, motivated, enthusiastic librarians and staff I have worked with over my years at CSUF.”
Retirement will find Jan and her husband on the move, literally, to Tucson, Arizona, where they will now make their home. Jan plans to continue learning new computer software and systems, this time on her home computer. She will also have more time for her other passions, fiber arts and animals. Jan plans to remain active in the fiber arts professional organizations and will continue to write her fiber arts and crafts book review column for Library Journal. She also hopes to have the opportunity to work with animals, perhaps by volunteering at the Tucson Humane Society. We know the Tucson Zoo has just gained a frequent visitor.
Jan has contributed much to the Library and to the University over her long career at Fullerton. While we here will miss her considerable expertise and her affable personality, we do wish her happiness in her well-deserved retirement and in her new environment.
Jerri
Harrison
Cataloging Coordinator
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