I Spy: Brady Cross' focus is on the library patron
If you’re requesting an interlibrary loan, need to locate and view a microfilm, or just need help getting started on your research project, access services specialist Brady Cross is the man to call.
“I love working with people who are enthusiastic about their goals,” says Cross, who has worked in the Kimbel Library for about six years. “When people come to the library, they usually have a task in mind. Be it to perform heavy research, get started on a project, or maybe they just want a cup of coffee; they are walking into the library one way or another. They are actively participating in the mission we have for the University: to provide excellent customer service.”
After owning his own business, a convenience store in his hometown of Seneca, S.C., Cross knows a thing or two about customer service. Anyone who knows or has been assisted by Cross will tell you that he takes a lot of pride in what he does. According to Temperance Russell, a summer student intern in the Office of University Communication and his nominator for I Spy, Cross was just as elated as she was – if not more – to know she found what she was looking for.
“We needed help finding a 1962 newspaper article, and we almost gave up on our search, but he chased after us when he found a lead. He offered us multiple options for assisting us with an interlibrary loan if we couldn’t find what we were looking for. On his lunch break, no less,” says Russell. “It’s easy to tell he really cares about CCU students, faculty and staff and wants the library to be efficient and successful.”
This is Cross’ first nomination for I Spy, the employee recognition program whereby CCU employees can nominate staff and faculty members for outstanding performance.
“It’s a daily reward to know I helped a student or a patron of the library,” he says. “It’s that ‘aha’ moment that is the reason why I do what I do. For every student, professor, anyone who has ever had a problem solved, that small moment of epiphany is the best feeling in the world, for them and for me."
His positivity and enthusiasm in his current position make it hard to believe Cross ever wrestled with the decision to move from Seneca five hours away to the Myrtle Beach-Conway area and start a new life.
“After selling my store in 2008, I searched for work for two years when the job market was abominable,” he says. “Eventually, I realized I would have to step outside my comfort zone in order to be successful. So when the opportunity arose to work at Coastal, I went for it.”And, according to Cross, life has been good ever since.
“We’re a big family here in the library,” Cross says. The group of 30-something library staff often gets together for potluck lunches and dinners, team-building meetings and dollar gift exchanges. When not working at the library, Cross is the Head Non-Skating Official (HNSO) for the Palmetto State Rollergirls. While the women skate, he coordinates the penalty box, scoreboard, scorekeeping and other various non-skating activities associated with the women’s flat-track roller derby team under the name “Bare Naked Brady.”
Cross is an avid art lover and enjoys visiting art museums like the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He also supports CCU athletics and was interviewed on TV news when he and library interim director Jennifer Hughes welcomed the baseball team home at the airport after the College World Series. They carried signs that read “Kimbel Library.”
According to Michelle Lewis, coordinator of access services at Kimbel Library and Bryan Information Commons, Cross has been an asset to the library ever since he arrived in 2010.
“He is always ready and willing to help everyone who comes through our doors,” Lewis says. “He’s our point person for finding materials that are difficult to locate or obtain, whether it’s across South Carolina or across the globe. He doesn’t stop hunting until he has exhausted all resources.”
But, to Cross, it’s just all in a day’s work.
“Nobody’s a superstar every day, but every now and then, even though I may not feel like it, there have been many days I’ve done something, and I really didn’t realize how much it meant to one of my colleagues or a library customer,” says Cross. “If I went home, and I had not done everything I knew to do to assist someone, I would feel bad about it, because that’s not who I am, or who we are at the library. Our focus is on the patron, and that’s just part of the culture here at Coastal. It’s all about the students.”
To nominate someone for I Spy, go to coastal.edu/traininganddevelopment and click on I Spy for nomination. Nominees are honored at the end of the year.
