Lou Helen Devine Sanders on her “love of learning” and time at UMSI

Despite growing up in a segregated Mississippi town in the 1950s without access to the public library system, Lou Helen Devine Sanders always had a “zeal for learning.” A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Information, Sanders obtained her Master of Arts in Library Science in 1974. 

“I was interested in library science, even though I grew up in a segregated town where I could not use the public libraries, because I wanted to be able to share my love of learning with others and help connect them to information and resources,” she says. 

Today, Sanders remembers “all the tremendous professors who really nurtured her and other students.” After graduating from UMSI, Sanders began her lifelong career as a librarian championing students and helping them pursue their academic interests. 

Sanders retired in 2021 from Jackson State University having transitioned from the H.T. Sampson Library in 2001, to Professor/Librarian Emeritus at Jackson State University. 

“I still feel a huge affinity for UMSI and my program today because of the connections I made with the staff and other students,” Sanders says. 

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Read more about Lou Helen Devine Sanders’ upbringing, career and experience at UMSI in her alumni snapshot. 

Apply for UMSI’s Master of Science in Information program.