Hi all, 

Thanks for sharing Christy’s email, Cathy. I will miss my conversations with Don as well; I appreciated his wise counsel, expert advice, and good humor. His passion, big heart, and active advocacy for people, for libraries, and for rural communities never wavered, even in retirement. Below is an extended biography for Don, quoted from the Tuesday, June 20, 2014 Standard Banner, his hometown newspaper in Jefferson County. I’ll add to this these dates of service in Tennessee: Don served as Nolichucky Regional Library Director from 1992 until his retirement in 2010, and served as President of Friends of Tennessee Libraries from 2014 to 2017 and again from 2018 to 2020.

Matthew

“Donald B. Reynolds of Talbott has been elected President of the Friends of Tennessee Libraries, for a two-year term beginning this month. Friends of Tennessee Libraries (FOTL) is a statewide volunteer organization of individuals and organizations dedicated to supporting Tennessee Libraries and local Friends of Library groups integrate their library thoroughly with the life and work of the community it serves. Reynolds is the retired Director of the Nolichucky Regional Library in Morristown, one of the twelve regions that made up the Tennessee Regional Library System (a service agency of the Tennessee State Library and Archives), which included Jefferson County until 2012 when the office was closed and Jefferson became part of the Clinch River Regional Library. He has extensive experience with public, school, academic, and prison libraries in New Jersey, New York City, Colorado, Kansas, and Tennessee. Reynolds has been actively involved in local, state, regional, and national projects to develop library services for rural communities, serving on many Chamber of Commerce committees, Community Development Society Board, Public Television Community Advisory Board, and chaired the Kansas Child Abuse Prevention Council Board of Directors. He is a Founding Director and Past President of the Association for Rural and Small Libraries. For the American Library Association, Don has chaired the Public Library Association (PLA) Rural Library Services Committee, the PLA Special Committee on Small and Rural Libraries, served on the Board of Directors of the Small and Medium-sized Libraries Section of PLA, and has served on the Small Libraries Publications Series Committee of the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA). Reynolds has also been active in the children’s, young adult, and school divisions of the American Library Association. He has served on the Newbery-Caldecott Committee (three years), the Notable Children’s Books Committee (three years), chaired the Young Adult Media Selection and Usage Committee, served on the YALSA Board of Directors, and the Best Books for Young Adults Committee (two years). He has developed and edited numerous training materials for librarians, trustees, Friends, and graduate library school students, including the Rural & Small Library Directors Tool Kit wiki, Nolichucky Library Director Notebook, Tennessee Trustee Tool Kit, Tennessee Trustee Manual, a Rural Resource Manual (Kansas) and an Economic Development Manual (Kansas). He has done workshops around the state and country based on his booklet, The Librarian as Community Leader. Don has been a resident of Jefferson County since 1991.”

Matthew Jordan | Regional Director

Clinch River Regional Library

Tennessee State Library & Archives

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