Library Faculty & Staff

A native of coastal North Carolina, John has more than 25 years of experience in library management, leadership, collections, outreach to diverse audiences, grant writing, scholarly communication and reference and instructional services. Prior to joining USC Upstate, John served as executive director of the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), an academic library consortium headquartered in Toronto, Canada. John also has held positions with the University of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium (PALCI), Gettysburg College, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and San Antonio Public Library. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Writing and Editing from East Carolina University and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He served as past co-editor of Pennsylvania Libraries: Research and Practice, an open-access journal, and continues to research and write about libraries, books, media, travel, and culture.

Tina graduated from USCS with a degree in Elementary Education. After graduation, she worked at QS/1 Data Systems and First Baptist Church Weekday Preschool. She came to Upstate in 2011 to work in Content Management Services, where she processed and ordered the books for the library. She is currently the administrative assistant for the Library.

Johnaca has worked with USC Upstate since 2002 as an information resource coordinator serving as an on-call technical assistant to end users on a variety of computer, software, and hardware issues. As an IRC, she identifies, researches, and resolves technical problems; responds to telephone calls, email, and personal requests for technical support; documents, tracks and monitors the problem to ensure a timely resolution for faculty, staff, and students.

Theresa “Tessie” Holliday is an Access Services Assistant at USC Upstate Library. Prior to joining USC Upstate in 2015, she worked for nine years as a Teen Services Assistant at the Cowpens Library in Spartanburg. Tessie completed her BA in Interdisciplinary Studies at USC Upstate, and is currently working towards completing her Master of Library and Information Science degree at UofSC.

Mary Hovelsrud was the previous owner of Broadway Bagels. She worked at the Spartanburg County Library and then came to work at USC Upstate Library in 2011. She took over the Interlibrary Loan operations of the library in 2013 and loves every minute of it.

Jonathan Newton graduated from Furman University with a Bachelor's in Asian Studies/Civilization and earned his Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. Jonathan serves the library through coordinating the Access Services Department.

Abbigail is a 2022 graduate of USC Upstate and former student assistant at the Upstate library. She has a BA in Communication and plans to pursue a Master of Library and Information Science to become a librarian. As a Course Reserves and Resource Sharing Specialist, she processes incoming and outgoing materials for PASCAL Delivers along with handling materials that are reserved for specific classes and students.

Ann holds a B.A. in Business and Economics from Benedictine University and an MLIS from the University of South Carolina. She has more than 24 years of business experience in the public sector prior to joining USC Upstate. Her primary responsibility in the library is managing the University Archives and Special Collections, with a secondary role as a reference librarian. She has been instrumental in elevating the University Archives into a collection that is open, usable, and connected not only to the university but also to the surrounding community, as well as developing the foundations of a digital collections presence at Upstate. Her professional interests include leveraging partnerships among smaller repositories, and advocating for the continued expansion of both the University Archives and the University Library.

Deborah holds an Associate in Arts from St. Johns River Community College, a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of North Florida, and a Master of Library and Information Science from Florida State University. She has worked in a variety of positions in both public and academic libraries, but primarily as an Archives and Special Collections Librarian working with rare books and manuscripts. She has been at USC Upstate since 2017 and works part time on the Reference desk and in the University Archives.

Michael graduated from Winthrop University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English-Creative Writing. He works in the Archives and Special Collections as an archives assistant where he processes, documents, and preserves a variety of material to help promote the knowledge and understanding of the history of both USC Upstate and the Upstate region of South Carolina.

Camille earned a B. A. degree in English and Public Affairs from Columbia College and a Joint Master’s Degree in English and Library and Information Science from USC. She also holds a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Library and Information Science. She has worked at Converse College and USC Upstate as a professional librarian. Camille serves as Coordinator of Collection Management for the USC Upstate Library and is library liaison for education, physical education, exercise science, history, and political science.

Virginia Cononie graduated from Lander University with a Bachelor's in English and earned her Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. Virginia serves the library through research services, collection management, and information literacy instruction. She is the library liaison to Biology Studies and African American Studies. Her research interests include copyright, creative commons, and legislative advocacy for the academic library.

Teresa “Terry” Elsey graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor's Degree in Art History, and then worked more than 25 years in regional management for several national medical transcription and documentation companies. Terry returned to graduate school in 2008 and earned a Master of Information and Library Science from USC in 2011. She is currently the Branch Manager/Librarian for the Inman Branch of the Spartanburg County. Terry serves as Co-Chair of the Public Library Section of the South Carolina Library Association and has presented previously at the Association for Rural and Small Libraries. She works part-time for the USC Upstate library.

Laura holds a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design in both Interior Design and Historic Preservation with minors in Architectural History and Art History. In 2000, she completed her MLIS from the University of South Carolina. While a graduate student, Laura worked as a graduate assistant in the USC Upstate Library and then joined the library faculty. Laura has is now a Senior Instructor in the library and currently oversees LibGuides, a CMS that houses online web-based research tools, as well as research and library instruction responsibilities. 

Andrew holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D in Musicology from the University of Illinois. He coordinates the library's outreach to distance learners and online programs and serves as on-site librarian at University Center in Greenville. He also heads the library's affordability and open educational resources (OER) initiative. He serves as librarian liaison to Advanced Manufacturing Management, Engineering Technology Management, Music, and the Mary Black College of Nursing. He has published in Reference Services Review, Southeastern Librarian and College and Undergraduate Libraries and has presented at national and regional conferences such as OpenEd 21, LOEX (Library Orientation Exchange), the Southeastern Library Association, and the Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy.

James “Jim” LaMee completed his B.A. at Carson-Newman College, his MDIV from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Certificate MFT from West Gate Training & Consultation Network, and his MLIS from USC Columbia. He began working part-time in the USC Upstate Library in 2002 and became a member of the full-time faculty in 2007, retired in 2021 and returned as part time faculty in 2021.

Mary earned her undergraduate degree in History and a Master of Library Science from the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, NY. In 2015, she moved to South Carolina and began working as a part-time research librarian at USC Upstate. In addition to working at the university, Mary is the Head of Research and Special Collections for a public library in the Upstate region.

Danette Lovingood started at USC Upstate Library in 2019 and assists patrons at the research desk.

Ann holds a B.A. in Business and Economics from Benedictine University and an MLIS from the University of South Carolina. She has more than 24 years of business experience in the public sector prior to joining USC Upstate. Her primary responsibility in the library is managing the University Archives and Special Collections, with a secondary role as a research librarian. She has been instrumental in elevating the University Archives into a collection that is open, usable, and connected not only to the university but also to the surrounding community, as well as developing the foundations of a digital collections presence at Upstate. Her professional interests include leveraging partnerships among smaller repositories and advocating for the continued expansion of both the University Archives and the University Library.

Erika graduated from USC Upstate with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and received a Master’s in Library and Information Science from USC Columbia. Her primary responsibilities currently include answering questions at the research desk, working on LibGuides, and teaching information sessions for her liaison areas: Sociology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Informatics, and Health Informatics.

Allison graduated from Erskine College in 2007 with a Bachelor’s degree in English. She then completed her Master’s in Library and Information Science at USC Columbia in 2008. She came to the Upstate Library in 2016 as an adjunct research librarian and then joined full-time in 2019. Allison's primary responsibilities include answering questions at the research desk, working on library outreach, and teaching information sessions in her liaison areas of English and World Languages.

Deborah holds an Associate in Arts from St. Johns River Community College, a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of North Florida, and a Master of Library and Information Science from Florida State University. She has worked in various positions in both public and academic libraries, but primarily as an Archives and Special Collections Librarian working with rare books and manuscripts. She has been at USC Upstate since 2017 and works part time at the research desk and in the University Archives.

John Siegel joined USC Upstate in July 2018. He earned an Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree from the City Colleges of Chicago, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in social work from San Francisco State University, and Master of Library Science (M.L.S.) from the University of Maryland. In addition, he completed a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in adult and professional learning at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His professional interests include meeting the needs of diverse populations (i.e. LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, military, and nontraditional students), as well as investigating the use of instructional design. Prior to joining USC Upstate, John worked at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the DuBois campus of Penn State University.

Mark graduated from USC Upstate in 1995, and received a Master’s in Library and Information Science from USC Columbia in 2017. His primary responsibilities include answering questions at the research desk, teaching UNIV 101, ENGL 101/102 classes and teaching information sessions for his liaison areas of Philosophy and Religion.

Janet graduated from Clemson University in Human Resource Development. She also holds a Bachelor of Science from Limestone College in Database Management and Web Development, and a Master in Library Information Science from USC. Janet has more than 19 years of experience in library reference, databases, staff training, and student engagement. Janet has presented Freshman Lost On Campus: Meeting the Needs of First Year Students at many conferences, including Georgia Southern Information Literacy Conference, Carolina Consortium, SCLA Conference, Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning, Transforming Librarians Through Technology Conference at USC Upstate, and at the SCTEA Conference. In addition to working as a part-time librarian for USC Upstate, Janet is the Assistant Director of the Library and Assistant Professor at Limestone College, and an Adjunct Instructor at the Spartanburg Community College.