Donor(s): Multiple donors
Associate Dean Jo Bell Whitlatch retired in 2006 after 33 years of service to San José State University. From the start of her career as a cataloging librarian in the Wahlquist Library to her role as Associate Dean, Jo Bell was a champion for the library, building collections and facilities that provide exceptional service to students, faculty, and staff and to the greater San José community. Jo Bell was invaluable in planning Clark Library in the 1980s. Two decades later, she was a major force in planning the complex and very successful King Library - a unique collaboration with the San José Public Library that provides a lifelong learning center for the entire community. She also served in the School of Library and Information Science as an adjunct professor. To honor Jo Bell's significant contributions, many donors, including faculty from the King Library, the university's History Department and the School of Library and Information Science, created this endowment to support the development of the history collection, one of the areas of the library that Jo Bell loves.