Kaitlyn Hughes | news editor

Lyn Dutertre has seen Gumberg Library from many different perspectives.

She saw the library when the floors were filled with stacks of books, and when computers took over the research process.

She’s seen fashion trends come and go, like when she used to show up with big, hairsprayed up-dos and 6-inch heels, which she traded for a pair of sneakers and a Duquesne hoodie.

Dutertre, library assistant II, recently celebrated 40 years of working at the library.

“It’s amazing. It’s constantly changing. It’s always going for the best,” Dutertre said. “Every time you turn around, there’s something new happening. It’s positive. I can’t say enough. It’s just an excellent place to work.”

Dutertre has worked in a library since she was in junior high. During her senior year of high school, she was vice president of the Library Club at her school, and she worked at the library while she attended Community College of Allegheny County.

After Dutertre graduated, she was working at Allegheny Center Mall when she saw a flyer for a job opening in Gumberg. She applied for the job and has been at Duquesne ever since.

What kept Dutertre coming back to the library for all 40 years is the students she gets to meet with different backgrounds. She said she likes learning about people’s lifestyles and how they celebrate different holidays.

“You learn something from every patron,” she said.

David Nolfi, head of research for engagement for the health sciences/STEM initiatives and assessment, said Dutertre was one of the first people he met at the library when he started working there 32 years ago.

“She’s just one of the extremely friendly people here in the library,” Nolfi said. “She was one of the people who made it a point to make me feel welcome here.”

Nolfi said that Dutertre lives to see the students and always makes it a point to try and get to know each one she assists.

He said that every few years the library surveys the students, and when Dutertre was moved to work at the front desk the students’ friendliness ratings of the library started to go up.

“She just gave the library this friendly face that it didn’t have before she moved there,” Nolfi said.

Through the years, Dutertre has been recognized for her service at Gumberg with the Environment Health & Safety Floor Marshal Award in 2020 and the employee of the year award in 2022.

Beyond the awards she has received, Dutertre’s passion has shown throughout her time working at the library.

In 1993, a blizzard hit Pittsburgh on one Saturday when she had to work. She knew it would take hours for her to get to work with all the falling snow, so she left for work at around 7:00 a.m. When she finally got to the door of Gumberg — just in time for her 10:00 a.m. shift — Duquesne Police were there to tell Duterte they were trying to get a hold of her to tell her the library was closed.

Nolfi said that Dutertre first worked in the periodicals department, which does not exist anymore. During that time, all the journals came to the library in print, and Dutertre would ensure that each journal had all the correct pages and were organized correctly so students could access them easily.

He said that she did this not only for the library to have a large collection of journals, but because she knew it helps students.

One day, Nolfi said, everything turned electronic and the need for a periodicals department evaporated.

“If you’ve ever worked around somebody who has had that happen, they can turn very negative,” he said.

“And she didn’t turn negative. She was sad to see it go, but then she redirected her efforts.”

Dutertre loves the adaptation of technology into the library system because it makes things such as research and borrowing books easier.

Tracie Ballock, who first met Dutertre in 1987 when she started working at Gumberg as a freshman in college, said her favorite memory with Dutertre is when they took a road trip together to Wert Bindery, a bookbinding company near Harrisburg.

When Dutertre was working in the periodicals department, she would gather loose pieces of journals and put them together to send to the bindery to become hard backs. She was corresponding with the people at the bindery so often that they invited Gumberg employees to take a tour.

Ballock, who is now the assistant university librarian for collections and metadata services, said that when she and Dutertre arrived at Wert, Dutertre was like royalty because they were excited to meet the person they were corresponding with all the time.

“She was just excited because it was something she normally didn’t get to do,” Ballock said.

Dutertre said her favorite part of the bindery was seeing the cutters and machines that sewed all the pages together.

“It’s like a secret workshop where magic happens to make all the books we read,” she said.

Dutertre also has a big personality outside of Gumberg Library.

If she is not listening to heavy metal music, Dutertre can be found walking somewhere. She used to walk to and from work — always taking the long route on her way home. Dutertre loves Diet Coke and drinks about six to eight cans a day.

Duterte has traveled to New York City about 15 times, and often by herself. She has been backstage of the “Good Morning America” studio a few times, has seen “The View” live and won front row seats to the musical “Wicked.”

During her time working at Duquesne, Dutertre received a psychology degree and also self-published about 10 books under the pen name “Denise Lyn.”

“She’s just fearless,” Ballock said.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu