Sutthill named October’s Civil Service Employee of the Month

Susan Sutthill, an acquisitions library associate in the Technical Services Department at Hilton M. Briggs Library, has been named South Dakota State University’s Civil Service Employee of the Month for October.

She will be honored from 2-3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, in Briggs Library room 130.

Sutthill has worked at SDSU since September 1986 and in Briggs Library since 1993, including the past 20 years in acquisitions. Her responsibilities include ordering, receiving and accounting for all books, serials, periodicals, media and electronic resource purchases. She also works with donated materials, of which the library can receive thousands of items a year.

Dean of the Library Kristi Tornquist said Sutthill is a knowledgeable, dependable and pleasant colleague and a kind person, and Briggs Library is lucky to have her.

“Susan is diligent in her assigned duties and is very detail oriented, which is necessary for this position. She accounts for over $1.5 million a year in expenditures and typically ends each fiscal year within a thousand dollars of the allocated amount. She is trustworthy and responsible when dealing with these large sums of money,” Tornquist said. “She stretches our purchasing dollars to get the best value for students and faculty. Her recordkeeping is meticulous.”

Professor and Catalog Librarian Lisa Lindell said Sutthill has a wealth of accumulated knowledge and organizational skills that she puts to use each day in her job, and she’s a great asset to SDSU and Brookings.

“Susan has great problem-solving abilities and is able to figure out and optimize complex processes and systems. … Her careful efforts in determining what to order in what formats at the best value benefit the library greatly and help ensure that library users get the resources they need,” Lindell said.

Head of Technical Services Enerel Dambiinyam said Sutthill’s wealth of institutional knowledge, professionalism and organization come through in her work.

“She’s collegial and conscientious of her work. Susan works closely with the subject librarians to acquire new library materials. Also, she provides support for collection development activities by serving on the Collections Committee,” Dambiinyam said.

Electronic Resources and Scholarly Communications Librarian Michael Biondo said Sutthill took on added responsibilities last year with the retirement of a longtime department head, and she’s streamlined a required yearly renewal process to save numerous hours of staff work time.

Systems and Discovery Librarian Shari Theroux agreed that Sutthill contributes greatly to the overall success of Briggs Library. “Her job is essential to the function of the library, and she accomplishes it in a smooth and efficient manner.”

Archivist and Special Collections Librarian Michele Christian said Sutthill has provided great assistance in acquiring books for the South Dakota Collection and helping with special projects.

“Her projects include describing historical images of Brookings, creating listings of past faculty members and transcribing audio recordings of South Dakota farmers. Susan's work has enabled us to make more of our collections available online and provide better service to our patrons. My staff and I are grateful for all she has done for the Archives,” Christian said.

Sutthill and her husband, Walt, live in Brookings. She enjoys reading, crocheting, gardening, feeding the wildlife in her backyard and watching NASCAR races. She said she is truly honored to have been selected as employee of the month.

“I can’t say enough about my coworkers at Briggs Library. They are all like family to me,” she said.

All SDSU Employee of the Month selections are determined through a nomination process by the Civil Service Advisory Council. Each civil service employee of the month receives an appreciation monetary gift from the F.O. Butler Foundation. The trustees of the foundation recognize the importance of civil service employees and take this opportunity to thank them for their exemplary service.