NASHVILLE (TSU News Service) – Yildiz Binkley can still remember the “pale green” barracks used for faculty housing when she arrived on the campus at Tennessee State University early one Saturday morning in 1971 for an interview with the library director.
She can also remember when “busy” Centennial Boulevard ran through the middle of campus.
Faculty campus housing is now a thing of the past, and Centennial Boulevard is a major thoroughfare that now runs outside the campus.
But the memory of how things looked still lingers for the young Turkish immigrant, at the time fresh out of college trying to get her first shot at the American dream.
“Those were the days,” she said. “And a lot has changed since then. The campus looks nothing like that today.”
Yes, a lot has changed, and Binkley has been a witness to and responsible for many of those changes as a member of the staff, professor and an administrator over the last four decades.
Binkley, who went on to earn a doctorate degree, and later becoming a tenured professor, said she is thankful to the late Lois H. Daniel, library director, whom she (Binkley) said, hired her and gave her the opportunity the live out her dream of a librarian.
“She was an excellent administrator and educator,” Dr. Binkley said of her former boss.
Starting as a junior reference librarian in the then Martha M. Brown Memorial Library (today’s Student Success Center), Binkley rose through the ranks to become the fourth director and subsequently dean of Libraries and Media Centers in 1991. In her TSU career, she served under six presidents, from Dr. Andrew P. Torrence (third) to the current president, Dr. Glenda Glover. She was part of the team when the library relocated in 1976 to its current $2.4 million, 82,000 square-foot facility, now called the Brown-Daniel Memorial Library.
But like everything else, there has to be an end game when you must pass the baton and see what the sunset brings. For Dr. Binkley, the endgame is retirement.
“It’s time to travel and not be concerned about what’s going on in the office,” Dr. Binkley said on June 27, her final workday at TSU. “I have trips to Europe and other places that are long overdue. I need to visit relatives back in Turkey and some cousins in Amsterdam.”
As director, Binkley oversaw many changes in the library. One of her main focuses was ensuring that the library remains technologically on the cutting-edge in innovations to be sure faculty, students and patrons receive up-to-date services.
In fact, as one of her last acts, she collaborated with the Department of Languages, Literature and Philosophy to develop the University’s first online digital journal of writings by students and faculty. Sketches: The Online Creative Arts Journal of Tennessee State University is the first journal of its kind developed at a TBR institution, according to Binkley.
“The journal is a mechanism through which researchers and scholars can network to do collaborative work,” she said. “We want to give researchers an additional outlet to publish their work.”
During Binkley’s tenure as dean, the library went online with its catalog; the first library webpage was created; the computer lab was established in the reference department; a security system with motion sensors, video cameras and alarms was installed; and the library began digitizing all archival and non-copyrighted materials.
Now providing wireless environment for patrons, the library, under Dr. Binkley, expanded its services through collaboration with other local and national libraries and organizations, including the Nashville Area Library Alliance; the Online Computer Library Center, Inc., a global library service dedicated to furthering access to the “world’s information”; and the HBCU Library Alliance.
Dr. Binkley served as the first secretary of the Alliance’s board, when the group was formed in 2002. She also served in key positions with several other library organizations over the years.
At a farewell reception in Dr. Binkley’s honor on June 27, current and former coworkers, staff and friends praised her for her sense of humanity, referring to her as “an excellent boss,” “outstanding colleague,” and a good worker.
“She was just a pleasant person to work with,” said retired longtime TSU librarian Hellen Coleman, who Binkley described as her first closed friend when she (Binkley) joined the library staff. “Yildiz was just special and cared about her co-workers not just on the job but their families.”
Greetings from President Glover congratulated the retiring dean for her years of dedicated and committed service to not just the library, but “Tennessee State University, our students, faculty and staff.”
Among other well-wishers making presentations were legendary TSU Track Coach Ed Temple; retired History Professor Dr. Bobby Lovett; and Binkley’s friend and fellow Turk, Dr. Ali Sekmen, Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science.
Dr. Binkley was presented with flowers, gifts, a cake with a combined rendering of the U.S. and Turkish flags, and a proclamation by the Tennessee General Assembly for her dedicated service to TSU and the state. Local artist Robert Lafayette Mitchell also presented her with a painting of her.
Dr. Binkley thanked her friends, coworkers, colleagues, Dr. Glover and the University administration for the “love and support you have shown me” over the years.
“I appreciate the opportunity Tennessee State University gave me and the persons I have worked with,” she said. “Each one taught me something and touched my life in some way. I am ‘True Blue’ indeed.”
She added that though she was retiring, she is not going from TSU. “For now, I just need to catch up on my Yoga.”
Taking over from Dr. Binkley is Dr. Murle Kenerson, who was recently appointed interim dean of Libraries and Media Centers.
###
About Tennessee State University
With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university and is a comprehensive, urban, coeducational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912 Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.