Amber Esparza
Arts, Culture & Entertainment Editor
Tim Gritten’s tasks and schedule varied widely on any given day as Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s executive director of the Library and Special Collections. But one major facet to Gritten’s duties was communication—something his colleagues say he shined at.
“If you want to make a change within the library, tell me how to improve the lives of our students,” Gritten told library staff when he took the helm six years ago.
Gritten’s last day was June 14. He is now dean of the Library at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
His accomplishments at A&M-San Antonio include construction of a new library, fostering a connection between the student body and library services and inspiring a staff of librarians and student workers.
“He’s always just been this incredible mentor, wherever he could help us,” said Pru Morris, the library’s interim director. “He was big into servant leadership. And he didn’t just talk about it; he really displayed that for us.”
Every day, Gritten would meet with people from campus and beyond to discuss all things library—from library student workers, to faculty and staff members, and even the former mayor of San Antonio and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros. Gritten was always looking to discuss bettering things for workers and students.
One of Gritten’s ongoing projects at A&M-San Antonio was acquiring new artwork for the university library so students of all backgrounds could feel represented when entering one of the most important buildings on a college campus.
Gritten worked with student heritage organizations like the Black Student Union, indigenous identifying students, and even had plans to work with the Asian Student Association, to do so.
“It’s really about trying to create a truly blended and welcoming environment where everyone on this campus can feel like they can step in the library and that this is a place that they belong,” Gritten said in an interview June 5.
At the time of the interview, Gritten was in the middle of prepping for a work retreat for the university librarians and staff that would be taking place partly off-campus. Gritten was beaming about how during the retreat week, the library was going to be kept open and fully operated by the library’s student workers.
“I trust the library student workers, completely trust them. So much so that the library is going to be run entirely by student workers while we’re at the retreat. Our student workers are just that good,” Gritten said.
A major reason Gritten decided to leave A&M-San Antonio was because he no longer felt needed by his library staff — and he couldn’t be happier about it. Gritten elaborated that this was the goal of his job as a director.
“For me, part of a leader’s responsibility is to put themselves out of a job. It is to really build up your team so that they don’t need you anymore. They’re great on their own,” Gritten said. “They can do amazing things, they can do wonders. They don’t have to turn to me as often for assistance, so it’s time to move on to another university that needs my assistance.”
Gritten said the thing he would miss most is the people.
“I will definitely miss the [university] staff and faculty. I will definitely miss the librarians and library staff. They have just been a pleasure to work with in the past six years,” Gritten said. “There’s actually been very little turnover within the library, so we feel like a very close family.”
“I will also miss the students here,” Gritten said. “The students, literally from day one, have impressed me.”
Gritten reflected about his interactions with students, which began when he interviewed for the director of the library position in 2018. He recalled a Jaguar Ambassador named Martin Calderon who opened Gritten’s eyes to “the quality of students” at A&M-San Antonio. More recently, he met with former Student Government Association president Deane Gumila who suggested that the SGA hold a murder mystery event in the library.
“I will miss those connections,” Gritten said.
Morris, who is head of Collection Services for the library at A&M-San Antonio, is filling in for the second time as interim director, which she last served as in 2018, before Gritten was appointed.
“When our previous director left, I became interim director of the library then and so when Tim came on, I transitioned everything to him. And now that he’s leaving, it’s kind of all transitioning all back to me for the meantime. …I have a little bit of experience with it,” Morris said playfully.
Morris worked closely with Gritten during his time at A&M-San Antonio.
“We were in communication pretty much every day in some form or fashion,” Morris said in an interview June 14.
Morris said that time working alongside Gritten will be a period she will always remember and hold in high regard.
“Tim has been amazing. He’s been such a good leader for us. …We’re very sad to lose him. We’ve learned so much from him,” Morris said as she began to get teary-eyed.
Morris explained that the week of Gritten’s departure had been an emotional one.
“Tim really stood out from the crowd… He just came off as someone who was really approachable and passionate about student success,” said Arts and Sciences librarian Emily Bliss-Zaks.
Morris said she and University Provost Mohamed Abdelrahman hammered out some goals for her time as interim director. This includes hiring staff for the fall, increasing use of the library space and improving the library team’s spirits after Gritten’s departure.
“With Tim leaving, it makes things a little difficult so we definitely want to have a focus on staff, and the provost is supportive of that,” Morris said.
Morris said she will forever prize Gritten’s mentorship, which she said began before he was even hired at A&M-San Antonio.
Morris contemplated her most meaningful memory of Gritten, which occurred when she was serving as the interim director in 2018.
“I actually applied for the director position before, and I didn’t get it. …I totally bombed my phone interview so I didn’t make it to the second round of in-person interviews,” Morris said.
As the interim director, Morris was tasked with meeting the remaining candidates during their in-person interviews.
“Tim was the only one that asked me during that interview, ‘Well, why didn’t you apply for the position?’”
Morris told him she had applied but performed poorly in her first interview.
Morris said Gritten immediately went into a “mentoring and coaching mode,” supplying her with tips on how to ace phone interviews.
“That right there told me who Tim was… before he was even hired,” Morris said. “So here he is at his interview and he just immediately goes into this coaching persona and it was just amazing.”
Morris said Gritten was a natural mentor to all.
“He just always wanted people to be successful, no matter what.”
Gritten said Morris is going to be a fantastic interim director.
Psychology freshman Naomi Willis has been a library student worker at A&M-San Antonio since October 2023.
Willis said she was so surprised by the news of Gritten’s departure that she had to corroborate the information with Public Services Manager Sarah Timm who sentimentally confirmed the announcement.
Willis reminisced over the eight months she spent working with Gritten, recalling their first meeting at the library student worker orientation.
“I remember him being this huge teddy bear,” Willis said. Gritten had told her that regardless of where he was, he would always be there for her if she needed anything.
Willis described the relationships between Gritten and student workers as full of care and inclusivity. She said Gritten radiated a father-like role to everyone he worked with.
“He would constantly pass by the front desk and ask us how we were doing,” Willis said. “I don’t think there is anyone who is going to be able to replace him.”
Willis said she hopes the new director takes into consideration the student workers’ opinions with the same care and attention as Gritten.
“He was a listener, he observed, and was attentive to what we were saying and didn’t just dismiss it,” Willis said. “More people need to be like Tim.”
Arts and Sciences librarian Emily Bliss-Zaks has worked with the library for over 10 years. Bliss-Zaks formed part of the hiring committee that appointed Gritten in 2018.
Bliss-Zaks said she knew back then Gritten would be perfect for the job.
“Tim really stood out from the crowd,” Bliss-Zaks said. “He just came off as someone who was really approachable and passionate about student success.”
Bliss-Zaks has high expectations for the new chapter of A&M-San Antonio’s library. She hopes the future executive director takes the foundation Gritten built over the years and continues to help the library grow stronger.
Bliss-Zaks also hopes the new leader will continue to show care for the needs of the community and library services like Gritten did. Gritten was really good at focusing on the success of students, innovations for the library and learning from feedback, Bliss-Zaks said.
One of the things Bliss-Zaks will miss the most about Gritten is the casual conversations about life and his love for animals — specifically stray dogs that wander into A&M’s campus — when bumping into each other in the halls.
“He can be your boss and he can be your friend at the same time,” Bliss-Zaks said. “It’s hard to find a boss that can do those things.”
