FMU library dean Paul Dove retires after 33 years

Paul Dove, dean of library at Francis Marion University, has seen the university’s James A. Rogers Library grow from one book and printed card catalogs to more than 400,000 volumes and electronic filing during his career, which spanned more than 30 years.

On Monday, Dove welcomed a retirement filled with days of sitting on his porch with his dog at his Winnsboro home and riding his Harley-Davidson.

Joyce Durant, public services librarian for reference and serials, will serve as the library’s interim dean.

When Rogers Library, which is named after the first chairman of the state College Board of Trustees, was dedicated in 1971, one book made up the entire holdings, Dove said.

Now some 33 years later, the library provides access to electronic databases and is the sixth largest academic library in the state, according to a university press release.

Dove said the library joined a regional network and started processing books in a computerized system in the mid-’70s and by the mid-’80s was heavily involved in technology. In 1987, the library purchased an integrated library system.

By 1996, Rogers Library was the first in the state to offer a Web-based catalog that now contains more than 304,000 bibliographic records.

Dove said the college joined a consortium with other colleges in the state to purchase an updated integrated library system and is a member of several library units including PASCAL, the Partnerships Among South Carolina Academic Libraries.

While Dove spent his career as a librarian, it wasn’t his first choice. He earned a bachelor’s degree in French from Erskine College. When he finished college, he said he wanted to teach but pursued a master’s degree in French from the University of South Carolina to have better job prospects.

While there, Dove participated in an assistantship at USC’s McKissick Library because it paid more than one in a French lab.

“What I didn’t know at the time was that they gave five assistantships that year because in 1966, it was really difficult to recruit anybody to go into library work,” he said.

Two years later, Dove was offered the position as head librarian at Erskine College, which he declined at first because he wanted to teach. He said he was offered a deal that included a stipend of $200 a month until he earned a degree in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“After talking to (an Erskine official), the next thing I knew, I was at Chapel Hill working on a library degree,” he said. “It wasn’t a decision as much as it was some things happening and doors opening.

“I’ve always believed when a door opened, you got to stick your head in and see where it takes you,” he said. “I don’t regret it.”

Dove postponed a master’s degree in French to pursue library science, but later returned to USC to complete his master’s degree.

Dove was the head librarian at Erskine for five years, then became head librarian at Coastal Carolina University in Conway for a year before being named assistant acquisitions librarian at FMU in 1975.

In 1980, Dove became the acquisitions librarian after Frances C. Means retired from the position. He succeeded Mitchell Reames, the only library director FMU had since the library opened, when he retired in 1983. The position title was changed to dean of the library in 1994.

In addition to Dove’s librarian duties, he was a founding co-chair of PASCAL. He also served as treasurer, vice president and president of the South Carolina Library Association and on several Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation visiting committees. When Dove wasn’t working in the library, he taught FMU’s University Life 100 courses.

Between enjoying relaxing days on a swing and visits with his two children, Shannon Dove Johnson and Kevin Dove, and six grandchildren, Dove said there’s still plenty left for him to do.