By Mckayla Holson
Student Reporter
A woman with a love of knowledge and a collection of gnomes heads the library at NWOSU.
This woman gets up every day looking to help those in need and brighten their day. This woman is Shannon Leaper.
Leaper is the director of library services and the assistant professor of library and information science here at Alva’s NWOSU campus. Her duties include maintaining the budget, doing paperwork, managing and supporting faculty and staff, maintaining the building and many others.
Another part of working in the library is helping students. Leaper said her biggest failure is when students walk away and she feels she did not give them the answer they were looking for.
To overcome this feeling of failure, Leaper said she tries to follow up with the students and shares information that might be beneficial to them. She also tries to ensure that the next student has plenty of information.
Leaper said she then begins to think about hypothetical students who might be looking for the same answers. She has built numerous websites to help these students.
“She’s really good at explaining questions,” said Baleigh Roberts, a junior English major and student worker at the library. “She cares for everyone who comes into the library.” Roberts said she admires Leaper’s responsibility and respectfulness.
Leaper became the director in July, and she said there are no frustrations. She said she is blessed with her crew at NWOSU. Everyone is genuinely happy and ready to come to work. She also said the university has a great administration.
Leaper grew up all around southern Georgia. She attended Wayland Baptist University for her undergraduate studies and then she went to Valdosta State University where she obtained her masters of library and information science. She moved to Oklahoma in 2012 from Valdosta and then she received masters in education from NWOSU in 2017.
Leaper has five children who she says are her greatest achievements: Amanda Breeden who previously attended NWOSU but is now at Panhandle State; Savannah Cote who is an English and social sciences major at NWOSU; Nana Leaper of Wichita Falls; Andrew Leaper of Wichita Falls; and Ryshelle Leaper of Virginia. Leaper also has five grandchildren.
Leaper is married to Jeff Leaper, a man who she says is her personal hero.
Leaper said he is amazing and fascinating. She said he is her best friend and she admires him. She admires his morality, his sense of right and wrong.
Leaper said she also likes that they can agree to disagree; they do not always see eye-to-eye and that is OK.
Leaper did not start off as a librarian. She was the former secretary of the First United Methodist Church in Valdosta, and she was in medical logistics in the United States Air Force. During her last four years in the Air Force, Leaper was a military instructor.
Leaper said she did not even seriously consider becoming a librarian until around 2008. Ironically, she won an award her senior year of high school and was voted “Most Likely to Become a Librarian” during a mock ceremony.
Growing up, she said she kept her options open and did not know what she was going to be. If she had to retire today and choose a new career, she said she would like to do book indexing or travel planning. She said she would most likely choose the travel planning.
“I like planning the travel almost as much as I like going on the trip,” Leaper said.
Leaper pointed out that organization has played a huge role in her previous jobs: she organized people at the church and she organized medical supplies in the Air Force.
Leaper was in the Air Force for nine and a half years beginning when she was 20. During this time, she was at two bases, Tyndall in Florida and Sheppard in Texas, and deployed once to Kuwait after 9/11.
While in Kuwait, she learned how to properly drink tea and she tried food that she said she still cannot identify. Leaper said the tea was made with saffron and some of the best she ever tasted.
To properly have tea is to relax for 30 minutes while conversing and then get down to business. Leaper said that this is different from the American way of getting business done right away.
Leaper said Kuwait was fascinating and beautiful. She said it reminded her a lot of Oklahoma: it was flat with oil wells everywhere.
Leaper described herself as a happy, optimistic person. She said she tries to make those around her feel happy also. She said that if someone is going to infect another with an attitude, why not make it a good one? “Be kind,” Leaper said. “It doesn’t cost anything to be kind.” Amanda Breeden, Leaper’s daughter, described her mom as extremely goal oriented, a world traveler and overall warm.
Being optimistic ties into what she feels is her best quality and greatest weakness: trying to see the good in every situation and person. Leaper has a goal of becoming the best she can be at her job. She said she wants to learn her job as well as she can. She mentioned a possible future goal of furthering her education, but that is far into the future. As of right now, she is focused on becoming the best director she can be.
Breeden said Leaper’s love for knowledge is something she admires about her. “Even though she’s been to college and received several degrees, she’s always strived and wanted to learn more in and outside of school,” Breeden said.
Getting up in the morning to come to work and do the best that she can is what motivates Leaper when helping others she said.
Leaper’s hobbies include crafts such as crocheting, knitting and cross-stitching, reading (her husband calls her a “veracious reader”) and traveling.
Leaper’s job has allowed her to do one of her hobbies: travelling. Leaper is a part of the study abroad committee. She is chairing the 2019 trip with Wayne McMillin from the Enid campus.
The 2019 trip will be 10 days in Italy, visiting places such as Venice, Florence, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Rome, Pompei and many others. Leaper said the trip will be amazing.
For more information, contact Leaper or go to the travel abroad website. As the new director of the library, Leaper said she does not expect to make many changes. She said Susan Jeffries, the previous director, was an amazing mentor.
While changes are not to be greatly expected in the future, Leaper hopes to be more aware of the needs of non-traditional students. She would like to add baby changing stations to the restrooms.
According to Leaper, the entire library is a treasure. The study rooms are also an important aspect to the library. The rooms are closed off and have blackboards which are beneficial to students, especially during finals week. Leaper said the rooms are prime real estate during that time.
Leaper said her favorite area of the library is back in the reference section. The big, comfortable chairs would be nice to relax on she said. Leaper also said students can grab a book or newspaper and relax on the couch while letting the sun shine down on them through the big windows.
“I love students,” Leaper said. “I am a firm believer in the benefits of education and what education can do for students.”