Mildred L. Iddins

Mildred Lucille Iddins, Associate Professor Emerita of Library Services, was born in Fountain City, TN on September 14, 1915. She received an A.B. degree from Carson-Newman in 1936 and a B.S. degree from George Peabody College for Teachers in 1941. She also attended Library School at the University of Illinois.

Returning to C-N in 1944, she served as librarian for 37 years until retiring in 1981.

During her tenure, she supervised the library’s move from the Administration Building’s basement to the new Maples Library in the summer of 1949. During Thanksgiving holidays in1970 she oversaw a second move into the new building that incorporated the Maples Library as one wing. Over this period of time library holdings increased more than six fold. With an interest in history, she and librarian Imogene Brewer began to collect and preserve what would become the foundation materials of the Special Collections.

During the college’s annual Christmas banquet on December 15, 1987 a resolution was read naming the Special Collections and Archives in her honor along with the unveiling of a portrait that now hangs outside the Special Collections.

Miss Iddins was an active member of First Baptist Church, Jefferson City, Tennessee and traveled widely.

After her death on March 24, 1988, the Mildred Iddins Scholarship Fund was established in her honor, providing financial support for students studying piano.