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Tiffeni Fontno is a born educator. The director of Peabody Library got her start in government documents and served as a business librarian before diving into the family profession. “Everyone in my family is a teacher, and it got to the point that I realized teaching was a part of my calling, too,” said Fontno, who went back to school for an education degree before spending 13 years as an elementary school librarian and third-grade teacher in Cleveland, Ohio, and Durham, North Carolina.
She returned to higher education at Boston College, where for six years she was a curriculum librarian and gained a love for children’s literature. When a position with the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries opened up, Fontno saw it as a natural progression in her career. “Vanderbilt is a great place where so many amazing things in education are happening, from research to practice,” she said.
How do your role and the Peabody Library contribute to the university’s educational mission?
As director, my job is to advocate for the Peabody Library and all the resources and services we have to offer. This includes demonstrating how we’re relevant to Vanderbilt’s educational mission—not only in terms of helping students access different tools or talking to faculty about research and research resources but engaging different stakeholders on and off campus. At the heart of this work is finding innovative ways to collaborate. Collaboration is absolutely vital to what we do.
Which of your professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
It was cool being Teacher of the Year at Y.E. Smith Elementary at Durham Public Schools in North Carolina. But I would have to say my proudest accomplishment was as a government documents librarian doing reference and research for the U.S. State Department through an initiative that was created by one of my previous directors at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This was a very unique program initiated by my former boss, John Schuler. I was answering research questions and doing deep research and policy work with folks from around the world.
The experience inspired me to think differently about how to offer or provide services for communities outside of traditional brick-and-mortar library walls. My boss gave us the space to create and think differently about delivering information to people, and I’ve always carried that with me. That approach influences how we currently do programs and initiatives at Peabody Library. There can be a creativity to delivering information to people—that’s what that time taught me.
Are there areas where your work and your personal interests intersect?
My personal and professional interests intersect in the idea of being a lifelong learner. That’s not just limited to books! I like to meet people and learn about diverse perspectives, as well as travel, learn and experience what the world has to offer.
