Nancy Mankin was born and raised near a small town in southwestern Minnesota, the youngest of five children. She attended the nearby public school for all 12 years (plus kindergarten), graduating as an honor student. She went on to Southwest Minnesota State University, where she majored in English and minored in Literature. Two years after graduating, she married her husband Jim, and they had a daughter, Julie, five years later. Jim’s job took them to different locations around the U.S., and Nancy worked as a writer/editor in two different locations.
When they moved to Greenville, Nancy went back to school to get her Master’s degree in Library Science, and she worked in the children’s department of two public libraries and at elementary schools until her retirement in 2013. She was honored to be chosen Teacher of the Year at two of her schools. In between, she also had two open heart surgeries and survived breast cancer. Throughout her life and career, she was encouraged and mentored by her parents, her high school English teacher, the school librarian who led her to librarianship, and another school librarian who showed her the ins and outs of the job and how to make it fun and exciting for herself and the children she served.
Interviewed by: Anna Watson, USC Upstate.
