Phyllis Andruszkiewicz relocated to Jacksonville with her husband and son 20 years ago, spending time in banking and nonprofit development before taking her current role as the first director of development for the University of North Florida Thomas G. Carpenter Library.
Her role involves volumes of relationships.
At the library on the UNF campus, she is based in a second-floor office and provides tours of the four-story library, which was renovated and expanded into a 199,000-square-foot space to house books, resources, collections, archives, artwork, study space, classrooms, study rooms and areas and more.
Outside the library, Andruszkiewicz is involved in civic and community activities, often referring to herself simply as “Phyllis A-Z” after pronouncing “andrew-skevitch.”
“They’ve made this job challenging and exciting,” she said of her UNF and community colleagues.
Her role is to raise funds and generate private support for the library, and that includes naming opportunities within the building. Many areas are named for supporters, but many others remain available. “If you see a space and like it, you can put your name on it,” she said.
Andruszkiewicz and Library Dean Shirley Hallblade welcome visitors, and people might not realize the library is also open to the public.
Andruszkiewicz estimates she’s given more than 200 tours during her first four years in the role and invites more. She guides visitors through the nooks, crannies, stacks and racks of materials as well as through the halls and corridors, showing how students and researchers make use of the equipment, resources and space.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” she said.
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