John T. Furlong (center left) is welcomed by East Central Area Literacy Council Board members (from left to right): Dan Woodward, vice-president; Jean Craft-secretary; Alice Whalen, executive director; Kathryn Whyte; and Diane Crowder

John T. Furlong, director of library and learning resources at Missouri S&T’s Curtis Laws Wilson Library has joined the East Central Area Literacy Council as a member of the board of directors.

Furlong was appointed as director of the Curtis Law Wilson Library in September 2017. He has many years experience in library management beginning with his work as director of Brentwood Public Library for 11 years. He worked for St. Louis Community College beginning in 2010 where he also taught classes on information literacy as an adjunct faculty instructor.

Executive director, Alice Whalen, said that Furlong is a welcome addition on the board of director’s. “With this nomination, both the S&T and Rolla Public Library’s will have an influence on the efforts of the literacy council to impact the lives of adults in Phelps County through adult literacy education.” Diana Watkins, director of the Rolla Public, has been a member of the literacy council since 2016.

A press release from Missouri S&T announcing Furlong’s appointment also notes that he is a member of the Missouri Library Association and the American Library Association (ALA) as well as the ALA’s Library Leadership and Management Association and the International Relations Round-Table. Furlong earned a master of library and information science degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a bachelor of arts degree in history from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.