By Matthew Cimitile, University Communications and Marketing
If over the past decade you were one of the many students cramming for finals or putting the finishing touches on a research project until the midnight hours in the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, you have Samuel Holloway III to thank.
When almost all faculty and staff have left campus, Holloway is only midway through his shift. He rents out laptops and provides access to study rooms. He assists students with library services and research resources while keeping a close eye on building activities.
He is said to be able to find any book in the library due to his job overseeing the many stacks that line the building’s upper floors. He helps to maintain those stacks daily, ensuring thousands of books are organized and readily accessible to students, faculty and the public.
“I’ve put my hand on every single book in this library,” Holloway said.
But Holloway, 66, is known by his colleagues as so much more: a rockstar, an unsung hero, someone always willing to go the extra mile, a big heart with a sweet personality.
“Samuel is one of the hardest workers,” said Erica Lovelette, executive administrative specialist at the library. “He commutes over an hour to and from work every day without complaint and sometimes gets to work hours before his scheduled shifts. He is dependable and always willing to help anyone, always looking out for the well-being of our students and employees.”
When a hurricane approaches, Holloway is the one lending a hand to move furniture. When a problem arises with accessing library resources, he seeks out solutions to enhance the students’ experience.
And he is the one, alongside a security officer and student worker, supervising the night shift Monday through Thursday until 2 a.m., allowing the library to provide late-night study hours to a steady stream of students.
Next month, Holloway will work his final late-night shift.
“I’ve always been grateful for this opportunity,” said Holloway, who has been at USF St. Petersburg since 2014. “Especially working with students, trying to help them as much as I could. Telling them not to give up on their dreams, that if they work hard, it will pay off. I’ve come a long way myself.”
Born in 1957, Holloway started working at the age of 12. His first job was in the tobacco fields of Quincy, Florida.
“My parents always told me whatever you do, do a good job,” he said. “I put my heart into doing whatever I did and did it to the best of my ability.”
In the 1990s he worked for the Tampa Tribune, helping to layout the print publication. Before computers, stories, headlines, photos and captions were physically arranged and pasted on large sheets to create a layout that was then duplicated thousands of times for the morning newspaper.
When a rash of layoffs took place in 1999, Holloway looked for jobs in Tallahassee, since his twin brothers worked at Florida State University. He found an opening at the university library for the late-night shift.
After nearly 15 years there, Holloway wanted to come back to Tampa Bay, which brought him to the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library (NPML). The late-night shift at that time was until 10 p.m. But there was student demand for later study hours, and Holloway was willing to help. Soon the library extended its hours until midnight, and then to its current operation of 2 a.m.
In addition to supporting students’ late-night study needs and maintaining stacks of books, Holloway oversees UBorrow for NPML. This service allows the sharing of requested materials across participating libraries within Florida’s university and college systems. He tracks books from NPML that are asked elsewhere and vice versa, increasing access to learning materials for the campus community while ensuring nothing gets lost in translation.
“Samuel carries out his daily duties with precision, he cares deeply about his work and he does anything he can to contribute to the success of others,” said Kristina Keogh, dean of NPML. “As our late-night supervisor, he is responsible for the security and success of our students working late into the night, and I know the library and everyone within it are safe and have what they need to be successful because he is in charge.”
“Samuel is beloved by all of us, and I don’t know what we will do without him,” she added.
April 30 is Holloway’s last day. He has a trip planned to the Dominican Republic for a couple of weeks and then he will visit family members he hasn’t seen in a while.
Most of all, he is looking forward to relaxation.
“I’ll miss the people,” he says, when asked what he will miss the most. “I won’t miss the hour-long commute.”