Janet AllanReserves Specialist
At PLU we often talk about the values of cultural diversity and globalism. Few of us, though, have lived these values in the manner of Janet Allan.
Born in Masjid-i-Sulaimon, Iran, Janet's family later moved to Tehran. She lived a total of 13 years in that country before coming to the U.S. to stay. Her father was a petroleum geologist, and that's where the work was in the 1950s and early 1960s. Janet attended Bishop's School for Girls in La Jolla, CA, beginning with eighth grade, then later enrolled at Washington State University where she earned a degree in political science and economics in the 1970s.
Janet's international experiences include attending the Banf School of Fine Arts for ballet training ("...the same time Lorna Luft was there," Janet adds, though she didn't have opportunity to interact with Luft). Since then Janet has delighted in being a soccer mom. She has raised four children heavily active in sports and other youth activities - the oldest played soccer at WSU and now works for the Tacoma Business Examiner, and the youngest is a junior in high school now exploring college opportunities. Janet worked as a grounds keeper at PLU in 1996 before joining the library staff in 1999 as a circulation assistant. She now heads our electronic reserves service, orchestrating the hundreds of requests each year for scanning, linked access to digital information resources, and even streaming audio and video.
While one thread in Janet's life has been international experiences, another important one seems to be grass. Janet worked on the golf course her parents built in Vancouver, WA in the early 1970s. Her husband Pat, whom she met at WSU, was an agronomist for a time and worked for Emerald Turf Grass Farms in Sumner (though he since earned a master's degree in education at PLU and has been teaching middle school science for 20 years). Together Pat and Janet once owned and operated a lawn maintenance firm.
Janet's and Pat's long-term plans? Grass. Lots of it, in the way of a small farm they have purchased next to Pat's parents, who grow wheat and barley near Pullman. One day in retirement the Allans likely will grow nursery stock and annuals, but most of all they will enjoy remaining connected with their family and the world from The Palouse. Surrounded by grass. Lots of comforting, green grass.