Angela Jenkins, library coordinator for the African American Cultural Center library and media room, passed away Saturday, Oct. 19. Colleagues remembered Jenkins as an advocate for the library and someone who truly valued knowledge.
John Miller IV, program coordinator at the AACC, said he first interacted with Jenkins in his time as a student at NC State and continued on in his position at the AACC.
“She came here when I was an undergrad student,” Miller said. “I think with the ways that we interacted with the library, we definitely saw her all the time, and she became one of the people who inspired me to eventually move into working with college students.”
Tonya Hines, administrative assistant at the AACC, said she got to know Jenkins over the past year.
“I’ve known Angela for a little over a year, since I got here September of last year,” Hines said. “Such a very gentle and sweet soul. She appeared to be a quiet person, but for folks that really knew her, she had a very dry sense of humor that very oftentimes people miss.
Miller agreed with Hines, saying Jenkins was not so much quiet, but that she had a uniquely calming presence.
“I think people would often times mistake her as quiet, but whenever you needed something or when you were in a situation where you really get to know her, her impact would be really calming,” Miller said. “We are oftentimes kind of busy and hectic, and she was really about finding answers. Whether that applied to literal research or even processing life things, she was really calm, level-headed, middle-of-the-road, and grounded you in a really kind of Angela way.”
In a tribute published on the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity website, Sachelle Ford, interim director of the AACC, said Jenkins’s legacy is one of appreciation of knowledge.
“Angela was a wonderful person and I’ll miss her dearly,” Ford said in the tribute. “She was a fierce advocate of the library and worked hard to expand its resources and services. As a colleague, Angela was also insightful, funny and kind. Her passing is a tremendous loss to our community. We’ll honor her memory by upholding her values of knowledge and education, and keep them at the heart of the center’s work.”
Jenkins made efforts to guide colleagues and students to knowledge while also challenging them to be accountable, Miller said.
“Even as a student, she would help me find things in the library but do so in a way that would challenge me to make sure that what I said to be true is what was actually true,” Robinson-Miller said. “She did it in a way that was a gentle yet firm nudge, of just holding yourself accountable.”
Jenkins often went above and beyond, in the interest of educating others and sharing knowledge, Hines said.
“She was kind of like the keeper of the treasures,” Hines said. “The collections that she spoke highly of in the library, she valued and treasured them. It wasn’t just a book, it wasn’t just the information. Often times, if there was something that I considered to be minute, I’d ask her about it, next thing you know she’s trying to research and find something that could help me make this decision.”
