Looking out of her office window in Roy O. West Library, the Access and Outreach Services Librarian, Kayla Flegal admires the focused students on DePauw University’s campus. As she sips her favorite green tea, imported from Thailand, from her favorite Taylor University mug, Flegal reflects on the structure DePauw provides its students and how she can help guide the young minds at the University.
A native of Greencastle, Flegal, who also goes by her maiden name Kayla Birt, knows the importance of a liberal arts education and the enormous opportunities a small college can offer its undergraduates. “I always liked school. I liked the order and structure and constant feedback,” she said. “Coming out of grad school, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with my life, I just knew I wanted to be surrounded by the classroom.”
DePauw is an institution known for preparing its students for life beyond Indiana State Road 75, which was a quality Flegal knew about DePauw at a young age, “I always saw DePauw as an ‘Ivy Tower’ in a small town in Indiana, but I wanted to go beyond my hometown.” As a 2011 graduate of Taylor University, Flegal studied English Literature and American History, but knew she was destined to be in a classroom.
A firm believer in the liberal arts education, Flegal believes that an intimate education setting is bound to give students opportunities and courage to reach for success and leave DePauw more confident in their abilities.
Many people come to Greencastle with the dream of leaving as a more well-rounded person. Flegal left Greencastle because her parents knew there was a world beyond familiarity, and desired for her, and her three siblings, to explore and learn from experience and mistakes. “My parents strongly encouraged me and my siblings to leave home,” Flegal said. “Whether we went to college or into the military, none of us were not allowed back in Greencastle until our tenth year after graduating high school.”
When Flegal’s father, Jerry, was asked about encouraging his children to leave home he said, “I believe that from the ages of 18-20, you are bound and determined to make big mistakes. I have lived in Greencastle my entire life and had to adapt those mistakes to my hometown. I wanted my children to learn by experience outside of our backyard.”
Acknowledging her father’s passion for her to succeed outside of Greencastle, and her predetermined life after high school, Flegal says that she could never promote the “10-year-rule” like her father but that there is so much to be learned. “There is so much to learn and experience in the world, and this school provides students with the opportunity to expand their minds,” Flegal said.
Flegal never expected to fall in love with Greencastle as an adult. “It’s weird, growing up in a place and leaving for so long, and when you return, learning to love it all over again,” she said. Flegal moved back to Greencastle in August of 2015 with her now husband, Dylan. After graduating from grad school at Indiana University and working at the library at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for three years, she stumbled upon an opportunity at DePauw where she could help students succeed.
She never imagined herself as a librarian growing up, and her parents thought the same, “Everyone was convinced Kayla was going to be a professional student,” her father said. Flegal just wanted to be in an environment where she could provide academic assistance and remind people to breath and take each day as it comes.
Since moving back to Greencastle, Flegal is determined to make Roy O. West Library a place where all students can succeed. After receiving word that the highly anticipated renovations at the library were put on hold until at least 2019, she is determined to figure out ways to engage the students in both the library and the community.
“I want to figure out a way to connect with the Generation X,” Flegal said. Roy Library has not been renovated since 1986 and before that in 1956 when the building was originally built. “There seems to be a 30-year trend with updating this place,” Flegal said.
Flegal said the library really wants to be more involved and connect with the students. “We recently have adopted the Women’s Softball team and will be attending their home games,” she said.
Flegal believes that small liberal arts colleges, such as DePauw, give the faculty and students an opportunity to bond over various campus events and in the common classroom. The small communities allow students to become comfortable with their academic mentors and learn how to handle the college life one-on-one, where they are a name and not just a number.
From growing up in this small college town, to expanding her mind and learning life outside of Greencastle, Flegal discovered the place she needs to be; and that is home. She wants to see students succeed and learn from themselves.