Tim Gritten started his role as dean of the UTC Library in July. Photo by Angela Foster.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Library houses an endless collection of information, as well as a studio, a writing and communications center, study rooms and more. A new, friendly face you may encounter is Tim Gritten, dean of the UTC Library.
Gritten arrived on campus in July after spending six years at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. His work experience began during his undergraduate days at the University of Illinois and has included stints at the Urbana (Illinois) Free Library, the Athens (Ohio) Public Library, the University of Notre Dame Law School’s Kresge Library, the Cunningham Memorial Library at Indiana State University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Wayne State University in Michigan.
He sat down to answer a few questions about his transition to UTC and his plans for the library.
Tell us about your background and how you came to work in libraries.
“Like a lot of people working in libraries, I was really into reading and books and said, ‘I’d like to work at the local public library.’
“Three libraries later, I thought I should probably get a degree because this seems to be a career I somehow stumbled into. Then, I got into management because there were lots of people that were complaining about the boss. The boss always gets complaints. For me, rather than complaining, I’d rather put some skin in the game and try to do something different.”
What do you envision for the future of the UTC Library?
“One of the things that is of paramount importance to me is that I get a good sense of the strengths of my team.
“As I talk to people across campus, I want to know where we can help people. One of the most important things that libraries can do is to look at how we access information as individuals and as a society. Libraries can be incredibly helpful in creating a framework for students to understand as they look at information, such as, ‘Is this true? Is this factual or just an opinion?’
“We have an amazing ability to look at how information itself is changing with artificial intelligence, but how can we use AI before AI uses us? I think a lot of people want Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Terminator to come out, and that would be cool, but I’m not planning on taking over the world anytime soon.”
How will the library continue to evolve as technology evolves?
“The library has always been evolving with technology. I was working in libraries when Google was a brand-new thing, and initially it was a secret. Librarians were like, ‘We’ve got this cool new tool called Google and we’re able to look up a massive amount of information.’
“We, however, want to give away our information for free. We want to say, ‘Here is our area of specialty. Here are our strengths.’ As every new technology comes out, you’ll have a lot of librarians who are so excited about learning it because they’re going to be excited about teaching it.
“We can always be out there playing with the cutting edge of technology and imagining how our students and faculty might want to use it. In addition to artificial intelligence, how might we pull in virtual and augmented reality and allow students and faculty to play with that?”
How do you plan to connect students with the library?
“I look for existing student networks as much as I can, wherever I can. Then I ask, ‘What problems are they trying to solve?’ and ‘What initiatives are they trying to do?’ Then I imagine how the library might be able to help.
“At a previous institution, I worked with the Black Student Union, and they identified some art from local Black artists that they wanted to see in the library. I said, ‘Great. We’ll go ahead and buy it.’ I worked with the Student Government Association, and they asked if we could host a murder mystery in the library. I thought it would be so cool, so we put a third of the library offline so that the students could do that.
“We have an amazing student worker who’s tied in with a lot of student activities. I plan on talking to her and finding out what some of the new student initiatives are and the problems students may be facing. Is it food insecurity? Is it textbook costs? What can we do to help with open textbooks? What can we do to lower your costs? How can we make this space an exciting one that resonates with you and that you want to spend your time?”
How do you plan to connect with students personally?
“I want to invite the SGA president to chat and find out what their goals are. I talk to my library student workers, who are capable of amazing things. They connect with students through direct relationships.
“I enjoy walking over and talking to somebody, getting an idea of who they are, what they’re trying to do, and just listening to them. It’s about meeting students in their spaces, not bringing them into the dean’s office. This is impersonal and it seems like the principal’s office. Because I’m relatively new to campus, I want to figure out where those safe spaces are and where students can feel comfortable.
“There is something called library anxiety, which is the concept that there is a barrier that students frequently face when they walk into the library and feel like they don’t belong. It is incumbent upon me to reduce library anxiety as much as possible.”
I heard you are big on board games—and the library has plenty for students to rent. Which one is your favorite?
“One of my favorites is Ark Nova. It’s about building and running a zoo. Another one I really like is Power Grid, which is a really cool supply-and-demand game. I’m playing a lot of Through the Ages, which is a civilization game. There’s a great cooperative game called The Crew, which is a trick-taking game, but you’re not allowed to share information about your hand and you’re all trying to meet certain objectives.
“I’ve actually been a play tester before, so I would get the first draft of the rules and play it and try to break the game. I’m credited in a half dozen games or so.
“One of the nice things about our board game collection here in the library is that it’s very diverse. There are games that are intensive and strategic like Wingspan. There are other entry-level games that are fun to play. No matter what kind of game you’re interested in, you can probably find something here.”
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