Micky Tsouprake, 76, didn’t initially plan on spending 50 years of her life in a building full of books; just long enough for her husband, Ted Tsouprake, to graduate from the UM School of Law.
Yet 50 years later, she is still working at the Otto G. Richter Library as the supervisor of the periodical department. She helps record nearly 5,000 publications to which the University subscribes.
“The Richter Library is like my second home. I have spent as much time here as I do at home,” Tsouprake said.
When Tsouprake began working at Richter, the campus consisted of only three main buildings: Memorial, Merrick and Richter Library.
At a time when copying machines were nonexistent, Tsouprake remembers when UM had one of the only two dry-powdered Xerox machines in Miami.
Tsouprake most recently recalls when the library’s index card catalog was thrown away and replaced with digitalized references.
What has kept Tsouprake at Richter for so many years?
“The periodical staff has always been very cooperative and congenial. I enjoy working here because of them,” Tsouprake said. “I also never had any children, so it is nice to be in an atmosphere surrounded with so many bright young people.”
Students and coworkers have only good things to say about Tsouprake.
“Micky loves young people and is never afraid to learn, especially when it comes to the computer,” Karin Muniz, student, said.
“She is very knowledgeable, and she loves to share her knowledge and experiences with others,” Gladys Ramos, coworker, said. “I always feel that I can go to her for anything.”
Tsouprake’s sense of humor became apparent when the reporter of this article mentioned that this was her first article for The Miami Hurricane.
“Well, this is my first 50 years,” Touprake replied.
Currently, Touprake is not considering retirement, but she says she looks forward to traveling.
In fact, as a 50th anniversary gift from the library’s catalog department, Touprake was given two round-trip tickets to go anywhere in the world.
Although she has not yet decided where she will go, she mentioned that she will probably go on a Caribbean cruise.
As for her coworkers, they hope she returns from her trip.
“Micky truly is the foundation of this department – it would not run smoothly without her,” Maria Garcia, coworker, said.
Caralyn Pearson can be contacted at japxangel@aol.com