College of Information Alumni Highlights: Abby and Vince Moore

How does having grown up in a small town, staying to raise a family, and wanting to improve the community from the inside out become a family affair? When people who met at birth both decide to achieve graduate degrees in the College of Information, the school district in the rural area, for which they both have a deep love, benefits. I met Abby Moore while I was working the booth at the 2023 Texas Library Association Conference. She informed me that both she and her husband were COI alumni. I was intrigued, so we set up a meeting. 

Although I was hoping for a COI love connection, it turns out that they were family friends from long ago. Abby was a teacher in Breckenridge Independent School District when she decided to move into the library, which she was allowed to do while she pursued her M.S. in Library Science at UNT. This endeavor has made her the only degreed librarian in the 4-campus school district and led to her position as District Librarian for the past 5 years. In her role, she has completely transformed the library through genrefication, creating a maker’s space, and tearing down walls, all leading to growth in circulation and participation in the libraries. About her time at UNT, Abby fondly remembers the mentorship she received from Dr. Yvonne Chandler. She felt inspired by Dr. Chandler’s caring demeanor and hospitality.

    Her husband Vince had the same goals in mind as he started on his Ph.D. journey in Department of Learning Technologies. He had always been interested in gifted education and had finished an M.Ed. in the field along with a teaching certification. While in the Learning Technologies program, his dissertation focused on the use of technology with gifted students. He had been teaching the junior high and high school technology classes, but by the time he graduated with his PhD in 2018, he had moved into a teacher trainer position, and he became the Technology Director for the district. As part of his new position, he refreshed every device within the district of Breckenridge with 1,400 students from K-12. He also surveyed the community on their needs and obtained their feedback on whether or not the technology was meeting their needs. Vince says that one aspect he appreciated about his time at UNT was the cohort model that the Department of Learning Technologies used. They had their vertical cadre of students, many of whom he maintains relationships with today across the country and within different industries. He also appreciated the AGF mentors, and says that they whole system felt like a family even though it was all online.

    Although Abby and Vince were not a COI love connection, I think we can safely say that they are in the running for COI’s favorite alumni couple!