November 02, 2005
Professor Joan M. D’Andrea’s longstanding relationship with St.
John’s University began in 1960 when she accepted a position in the
cataloging department at the Queens Campus library. After
working in the department for many years, she decided to pursue a
college degree, and in 1980 was awarded a bachelor’s degree in
English and Speech from St. Vincent’s College (now the College of
Professional Studies). In 1982 she received a master’s degree
in Library Science from the Division of Library and Information
Science, and began her professional career as a cataloger and
periodicals librarian at the Queens Campus library. She later
received a second master’s degree in English in 1985 from Long
Island University, C. W. Post Campus.
In 1983, Prof. D’Andrea became the coordinator of Instructional
Services, where her goal was to foster an ongoing collaboration
between library instruction and classroom teaching. She
offered classes in all subject areas, and along with colleagues
implemented workshops in term paper and research methods, as well
as providing subject guides and library pathfinders to assist
library patrons. She was also involved with the creation of the
Information Literacy Tutorial which is available for public use on
the libraries’ webpage and has been integrated into many
information literacy classes.
In 2002, the University Libraries established the Department of
Library Development in order to take a more active role in their
fundraising efforts. Prof. D’Andrea has assumed the role of
Library Development Officer, and in her new position, she plans,
coordinates and implements fundraising strategies and goals for the
University Libraries, in cooperation with the University’s
Development Office.
An active member of the University community, Prof. D’Andrea
serves on numerous Library and University committees.
In 2002, she was appointed by President Donald J. Harrington, C.M.
to serve on the Advisory Board of the Italian Cultural Center, and
to act as Executive Director of the Center for all campuses. In
this capacity she works with the Advisory Board to plan, coordinate
and facilitate the activities, programs and events of the Center.
In addition to her committee work, she has also been an adjunct
professor of English in the College of Professional Studies for
many years.
Beyond her University responsibilities, Prof. D’Andrea is a
member of several library organizations and has served as President
of the Metropolitan Catholic College Librarians Chapter. Most
recently she has become a member of the Academic Library
Advancement and Development Network. Known as ALADN, the group is
designed to offer networking and mutual problem-solving for
professionals involved in advancement and development for academic
and research libraries through an annual conference, electronic
listserv participation, and personal contacts.
In her free time she tutors children in English who are living
in the United States while their parents are here on business. In
this capacity she has worked with students from Japan, Spain and
India. She also serves as a “school advocate” for children whose
parents do not speak English and represents these children in all
aspects of their school endeavors.
A collector of children’s books, she has begun to accumulate those
books which were her childhood favorites and served as the
foundation for her love of literature. She hopes through this
collection to preserve and share them with future generations of
her family.