When Evron Collins was young, her parents wanted her to be an English teacher. Instead, Collins became a librarian, then stuck with the trade for over 41 years.

A retirement party for Collins drew over three dozen people to the Jerome Library atrium yesterday, with friends coming from as near as campus and as far as Canada.

Collins, who was active in establishing the library as a separate college, has filled most of the major library roles throughout her career, going from a student working circulation to head of that department in a decade.

Collins retires this week from her current role as a bibliographer, having worked with everything from the Canadian Studies collection to a rare compilation of miniature books.

Her friends and their tokens of appreciation are just as varied.

One of the more creative gifts, a painting, was presented to Collins by a former employee, University student Nathalie Ayres. The painting showed a dragon, Collins’ favorite animal.

“The first time I met Evron, she worked in the math library,” Ayres said with a laugh. “We didn’t do much for a while. Then she told me that I needed to work. She made me think she was a dragon.”

The art major then handed over a canvas that also showed Collins with several of her cats. “[Collins’ oldest cat] didn’t meow — it went ‘aaaugh!!’,” Ayres said later, releasing a shrill, stuttering mix of a growl and a whinny.

Even with cackling cats, Collins has been a good neighbor, according to Les Bamben, who was present at the event. Bamben, a former executive assistant to the president at the University, had friends who lived near Collins. Bamben worked with the librarian for over a decade, managing data for the faculty senate.

“She’s a great person,” Bamben said. “Very analytical.”

Several official recognitions went a step further in praising Collins.

Written praises came from the Canadian Ambassador Michael Kergin, the faculty senate, and the Miniature Book Society, among others. Canadian Consulate General Officer Dennis Moore was on hand to present Kergin’s letter, which praised Collins for contributing to “the development of one of the most impressive Canadian Studies programs in the United States.”

Along with the letter, Moore presented a book of Stratford (Ont.) memories.

“I thought ‘What if she already has this?’,” Moore said. “Then I realized she’s a librarian; she’ll know what to do with an extra copy.”

This could have all been a dream had Collins followed her parents’ initial advice. Nonetheless, she says her mother and father were her biggest inspiration.

“My dad wanted me to be an English teacher, but I wanted to be a librarian,” Collins said. “It really made me think about what I wanted to do. Made me fight my battles, if you will, and convince him.”

Collins says her parents’ praise, when it came, was more valuable because of the struggle.

“It took about 10 years but finally one day — he never said anything about it to me, he wasn’t that kind of guy — I heard (my father) tell somebody else how proud he was of me and of what I’d done. That was really rewarding.”

Collins is proud of her work over the years, as well as peers’ accomplishments.

“As far as the library’s concerned, getting the building and getting things here was big,” Collins said. “Also recognition as a college. The library faculty were not full faculty until we took over and got faculty senate membership too and that’s something I’m proud of. So part of it’s the University and part of it’s the library.”