This Friday, January 28, the USC Staff Assembly and USC Staff Club present the USC Libraries' Jynna Hughes with their Monthly Staff Recognition Award. The honor celebrates Hughes' many contributions to the Library for International and Public Affairs, where she's overseen its day-to-day operations as library supervisor for nearly eight years.
Hughes has especially impressed her colleagues over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic—a time that's seen many disruptions to normal library operations. At the start of the pandemic, when most university employees shifted to remote work, Hughes volunteered to remain on campus and assist the libraries' Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery (IDD) department in maintaining essential research support for the USC community.
"It is in part thanks to her work," wrote Associate Dean Ruth Wallach in a letter supporting her nomination, "that we in the USC Libraries can safely say that while the campus and the USC Libraries were physically closed, our services and support of researchers and students did not stop."
The pandemic also coincided with a major renovation to the Library for International and Public Affairs (LIPA). Throughout the project, Hughes worked to keep books and other materials available to researchers and prepared the library for its reopening in October 2021.
The library's head, Shahla Bahavar, nominated Hughes for the award.
"Jynna strives to make LIPA an inviting, pleasant, comfortable, and safe environment for students who visit the library for study, use the collection, and seek research assistance," Bahavar wrote in her nomination letter. "She is an advocate for a student-centered facility promoting services that meet students’ needs."
Hughes receives her award at Friday's USC General Staff Assembly Meeting via Zoom.
