Hunter Edwards—the library technician with the College of Education’s Media and Education Technology Resource Center (METRC)— is recipient of the College of Education’s 2025 SHRA Award for Excellence, which recognizes employees who demonstrate excellence in their college or department, the NC State campus community or in the lives of others.
“This award honestly couldn’t have come at a more poetic time. This award feels like a humbling bookend to my wonderful time working with the College of Education,” said Edwards, who is moving to Colorado this summer. “Everyone has been congratulatory and supportive, and they’ve all expressed such well wishes that my heart is full. I’m going to miss everyone, and I’m particularly going to miss my METRC family. This means the world to me, and I can’t thank everyone enough.”
Peers nominated Edwards for the Award for Excellence, and a college committee of faculty and staff selected them as the college’s recipients. They were honored during the College of Education’s Faculty and Staff Awards Celebration on April 29, 2025, and will be recognized during the University Awards for Excellence ceremony.
Edwards has worked in METRC for almost 11 years, first as a student worker beginning in 2014 and then as a full-time staff member since 2019.
As METRC’s library technician, Edwards provides materials and services to thousands of patrons, trains student workers, catalogs equipment and books, and troubleshoots technology.
A major initiative Edwards has led involved removing outdated materials and planning a phased rearrangement of METRC that prioritized patron needs. Though this project involved moving thousands of books, METRC Director Laura Fogle said, the project was completed ahead of schedule with minimal disruptions.
“They make the demanding routine look easy and strive to deliver an even better experience for everyone who visits METRC,” Fogle said.
When METRC moved to D.H. Hill Jr. Library in late 2023 following the closure of Poe Hall, Edwards focused on how to continue serving the college, quickly adapting operations and organizing books and technology with exceptional efficiency. They developed an interim tracking system to ensure timely access to materials while a permanent solution was developed. They also spent the summer of 2024 organizing and shelving hundreds of new books to ensure the books would be available to students on the first day of fall classes.
“Hunter’s compassion for others and devotion to hard work shine through everything they do, from heartfelt hellos to massive moving projects. They consistently exceed expectations to meet the needs of patrons and add value to the patrons’ experience,” Fogle said. “Hunter’s outstanding service and leadership shape METRC’s culture as the heart of the College of Education and create a lasting positive impact on our community.”
In their role with METRC, Edwards also proposed and implemented a mental health initiative designed for neurodivergent patrons and those experiencing mental health challenges; and as part of the UNC System Curriculum Materials Center group, they led a project to enhance the textbook acquisition process, benefiting libraries and educator preparation programs at universities across the state.
“I want to create a world where there’s free access to information for any and everyone, and they feel safe and welcomed when they step into my library,” said Edwards, who recently completed their Master of Library Science at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
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