Alumna Quanta Wyatt (‘95) loves conducting research. Her passion is what helped her gain the Arkansas Library Association (ARLA) Renetta Patrick Award for outstanding school librarianship, but she says she couldn’t have done it alone.
Wyatt is originally from Monticello, Arkansas, and lived there until she was fifteen. Her family then moved to West Memphis, Arkansas, where she graduated from Marion High School. After high school, Wyatt received her B.S.E. in social studies from Arkansas State University.
When looking for a graduate program, Wyatt fell in love with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s campus and friendly people. She graduated with her masters in information sciences from UT in 1995.
“I enjoyed my classes and my professors, some of which I still keep in contact with today. I remember the fun times attending the sporting events, hanging out at the Baptist Students Union (now known as the Baptist Collegiate Ministry), and working in interlibrary loan at Hodges Library. I made so many friends that I still keep in contact with today,” she said.
During her time at UT, Wyatt served as the president of the UTK Student ASIS chapter (now known as Association for Information Science & Technology or ASIS&T) and attended the 1995 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois.
“I was granted so many opportunities and experienced things that students at other schools did not,” Wyatt said.
She added, “My time in Knoxville is one of the happiest times of my life.”
Her first job was at the Brooklyn Public Library. After working in Brooklyn for two and a half years, Wyatt worked at East Arkansas Community College as the assistant library director. During that time, she returned to Arkansas State for a Specialist of Community College Teaching with an emphasis in Administration degree, which is a sixth-year intermediate degree for community college teachers and administrators.
“While I was working at the community college I married and, three years later, had my daughter,” she explained.
While she was at a meeting at her husband’s school, there was an announcement that the history teacher had resigned that day and the school needed a certified history teacher in the middle of the year.
Wyatt said, “When I was able to produce a valid, current teaching certificate for social studies, I was promptly hired. The school librarian retired at the end of the year, and I returned to the school library, where I have been working ever since.”
Wyatt said she was shocked when she received a phone call telling her that she won the 2023 Arkansas Library Association Renetta Patrick Award for outstanding school librarianship.
“I received this award because other people were willing to invest their time and talent in me, enabling me to be what I am today. I am truly humbled by receiving this award. The only reason I received this award is because many years ago my professors encouraged me, took their time to invest in me and pushed me beyond my boundaries,” she said.
Wyatt has been an active member of the Arkansas Library Association since working at the community college. Along with her many accomplishments, she has served as the chairman of the Arkansas School Librarian’s Roundtable, the ARLA chairman of the conference planning committee, wrote for the ARLA journal, and served on the ARLA awards committee.
Wyatt said, “Others have encouraged me to try new ideas and, if it went well, they praised me; if it flopped they said, ‘Oh well, try something else.’ I did not receive this award by myself. I have hundreds, maybe even thousands of people who took the time to lift me up on their shoulders so that I might see further and achieve more.”
Wyatt has been married to her husband, Doug, for twenty-three years. They have one daughter, Kathleen, who is a junior at Arkansas State. Wyatt enjoys reading, sewing, and traveling. She has been to all fifty states and five continents.