Bell Joins Advancement Team

In August, the Office of Library Advancement welcomed Alyson Bell, MS ’16 LIS, as the new associate director of advancement for stewardship and donor relations.

Bell comes to the Library from the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering, where she worked in a similar role for the last six years.

Originally from southern Illinois, Bell returned to the Midwest for graduate work. She pursued a master’s degree in library and information science at the U of I after earning a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Atlantic, which is located on Mount Desert Island, surrounded by Acadia National Park and the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Maine.

Even as an undergraduate, fundraising intrigued her. At COA, all students major in human ecology (the relationship between humans and their environment) but craft their own focus. Bell’s was fundraising and music. In addition, she has always been drawn to libraries, having worked in them during her undergraduate and graduate schooling.

As Bell earned her master ’s degree at Illinois, “I really started learning about how amazing the Library is,” she said, with its vast collection presenting exciting opportunities. She is enthusiastic about joining the advancement team and building relationships across campus.

As an advancement professional, Bell created a three-part mission statement to guide her stewardship: acknowledge all gifts that come in, ensure they are spent correctly, and demonstrate the impact of those gifts. She looks forward to applying those principles to her work at the Library.