Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12

1986 Alumnus Accepts New Role as Academic Librarian

Class of 1986 alumnus Peter Dean has accepted a new job as a reference and instructional services librarian at Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss.
 
In his role, Peter’s responsibilities include providing instructional services to students, developing informational and instructional materials, planning outreach activities, and providing liaison service to academic departments, including collection development responsibilities, and maintaining a high-quality reference collection. Additionally, Peter teaches the online course, Fundamentals of Information Literacy in rotation with other librarians and designs content for the course.
 
“I really enjoy teaching students library research skills and helping students become more successful in their library-related researches,” said Peter. “Libraries give students resources and services for learning to support literacy and education; to help shape new ideas and perspectives. And almost all of those resources are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Since obtaining his master’s degree in 2008 from Simmons University’s School of Library and Information Science, Peter has worked in both academic and public libraries.

“The role of a librarian—and the library itself—has changed dramatically since I was in school,” he said.

Before transitioning to his role as a librarian and moving to Mississippi, Peter worked as a case manager at a crisis program and later as an editorial assistant at Hometown Publications, a weekly newspaper chain in Shelton, Conn. His interest in library services sparked when he was assigned to cover a couple of stories at the Bridgeport Public Library. The two stories included overseeing a group that met to discuss the works of William Shakespeare and the other was on a technology grant the library received to purchase new equipment. Peter noted that talking to the library administrators made him more interested in libraries themselves.

He encourages students to be aware of the librarian sitting behind the desk noting that he or she is “more than willing to help you find reliable, scholarly information for whatever research project you're working on, and the librarian is also willing to help teach you how to find this information for yourself.”

Peter looks back on his time at Hamden Hall with great fondness stating that his love of reading and writing was developed in his classes. He credits former English teacher Mr. James Giachino and others for encouraging him in his studies and giving him the chance to write creatively.

Peter graduated from Quinnipiac University in 1991 with a degree in psychology and a master’s degree in library and information science from Simmons College in Boston, Mass., in 2008. He currently lives in Cleveland, Miss., which he now calls his “home state.”

“I moved to [Gulf Coast] Mississippi in 2008, thinking I would work for two years and then relocate to the northeast,” he said, adding that he moved next to neighbors who became like family to him and has never looked back.
Back

Hamden Hall Country Day School

About Us

Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.