BIG IDEAS demand reliable information. The University Libraries supports scholarship, research, and learning at UT by acquiring, organizing, preserving, and facilitating access to the world’s knowledge. The wide-ranging expertise of our librarians might surprise you.

This semester we begin a series of profiles of UT Knoxville librarians. Watch for a new profile each week.

As Coordinator of Community Learning Services and Diversity Programs, Thura Mack leads the Libraries’ outreach to schools in Knoxville and the surrounding community. Community Learning Services teaches information literacy and library research skills to university-bound students in programs such as UT’s Bridge Program and Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams). The Bridge Program helps first-year community college students make the transition to a four-year university. Participants live on the UT campus while taking freshman classes at Pellissippi State Community College then transfer to UT as sophomores. Project GRAD brings local inner-city high school students to campus for a week-long immersion in college life and coursework. Community Learning Services hosts an annual symposium for high schools students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career fields.

Thura also chairs the Libraries’ Diversity Committee, which encourages respect and appreciation for individual differences through programs and resources that enhance knowledge and understanding of diversity. The Committee strives to provide leadership for the Libraries in meeting the needs of all its constituencies and special populations.

Thura holds a bachelor’s degree from Knoxville College and a master’s in library science from UT.