{"id":20556,"date":"2025-02-10T16:18:27","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T21:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/?p=20556"},"modified":"2025-02-10T16:18:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T21:18:27","slug":"a-library-love-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/a-library-love-story\/","title":{"rendered":"A Library Love Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Libby and Charlie Lewis on their wedding day on July 13, 1974<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The year was 1972. As a master\u2019s degree student in library sciences, Libby Lewis needed a job. A chance assignment in Hoskins Library\u2014then commonly known as the \u201cGraduate Library\u201d\u2014put her in the path of another student worker with the \u201cprettiest sweetest smile\u201d named Charlie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie would ask Libby out. A yes to a date eventually led to a yes to a marriage proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The love that began in the library blossomed into almost five decades of marriage and now has inspired a gift to UT Libraries to support its mission of transforming lives through learning. Libby Lewis recently established an endowment in honor of her late husband, Charlie Lewis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy Christian faith and my family were the bedrock and ground of my life. But UT and the Libraries was the tree that led to everything else,\u201d said Lewis, a native of Dayton, Tennessee. \u201cTennessee led to Charlie, my career, and my deep love of football!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a gopher for the Hoskins reference department, Libby Lewis ran errands to other units. That included the print shop where fellow library science student Charlie ran the printing press, making business cards, invitations, and stationery. His smile caught her eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt always made you happy to see it,\u201d she said. \u201cHe had a wonderful sly sense of humor with a snarky smile. His snarky smile and my snarky sense of humor just clicked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following marriage in the summer of 1974 and graduation from UT, the couple moved to Virginia for a librarian cataloging job at Virginia Commonwealth for Charlie and a library job at the Richmond City Jail for Libby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cI created the library in what had been a closet. I had a wonderful time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The job opened the door to a 25-year career establishing institutional libraries in prisons and mental hospitals around the state of Virginia. She eventually joined the state library, now Library of Virginia, in a variety of jobs dealing with public library services throughout the state. Prior to retiring, she directed the division charged with training public library trustees and staff, administering federal and state grants, public library statistics and assisting in library technology progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Libby and Charlie Lewis on a cruise in 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLibraries make a difference and change lives,\u201d Lewis said, noting that she witnessed the transformation in the people she served through the various institutions where she was a librarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Libby and Charlie Lewis went on to have two children and \u201cboth broke our hearts by refusing to go to Tennessee for a reason I couldn\u2019t counter\u2014it was too big. I couldn\u2019t get to Tennessee fast enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their son Steven went to William and Mary, and daughter Joanna went to University of Virginia, Wise. \u201cBut every time we came to tailgate, I told my children to be thankful for the graduate library. They wouldn\u2019t be here without it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Lewis passed away on September 24, 2022\u2014the day UT beat Florida. \u201cI know he had the best seat in the house,\u201d Libby Lewis said. The couple was married for 48 years and three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her husband would be bashful that the Libraries gift is named for him. \u201cMy people are wonderful people and salt of the earth,\u201d she said. \u201cThe idea that Charlie and I had careers and could build enough to give back feels like an embarrassment of wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut UT gave us so much, and I want to pay it back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The year was 1972. As a master\u2019s degree student in library sciences, Libby Lewis needed a job. A chance assignment in Hoskins Library\u2014then commonly known as the \u201cGraduate Library\u201d\u2014put her in the path of another student worker with the \u201cprettiest sweetest smile\u201d named Charlie. Charlie would ask Libby out. A yes to a date eventually … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1052,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Library Love Story - News - News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/a-library-love-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Library Love Story - News - News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The year was 1972. As a master\u2019s degree student in library sciences, Libby Lewis needed a job. A chance assignment in Hoskins Library\u2014then commonly known as the \u201cGraduate Library\u201d\u2014put her in the path of another student worker with the \u201cprettiest sweetest smile\u201d named Charlie. Charlie would ask Libby out. A yes to a date eventually … Continued\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/a-library-love-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/utklibraries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-10T21:18:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/02\/Lewis-wedding-July-13-1974-614x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@utklibraries\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@utklibraries\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"description\":\"News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/a-library-love-story\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/02\/Lewis-wedding-July-13-1974-614x1024.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/a-library-love-story\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/a-library-love-story\/\",\"name\":\"A Library Love Story - News - News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/a-library-love-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-10T21:18:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-10T21:18:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b285ca66dc92c9739fefffa2ee09e217\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/a-library-love-story\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":[\"Person\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b285ca66dc92c9739fefffa2ee09e217\",\"name\":\"Lola Alapo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0154d47e2d4c924550e00d562f474347?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lola Alapo\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20556"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1052"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20556"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20565,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20556\/revisions\/20565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}