Dean, Library & Learning Resources

Education

Masters of Library and Information Science
San Jose State University, San Jose, California

Bachelor of Arts in French Literature & Culture
California State University San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California

Associate of Arts in French
Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, California

Experience

Damon Nance is the dean who leads the Library and Learning Resources division of Norco College, including: library operations, services, resources, programs and initiatives. In addition, he oversees the college's Learning Resource Center which provides tutoring, Supplemental Instruction and other academic support services to increase student success. He developed Read 2 Succeed @ Norco College, a college wide reading program that involves the college and local community in interactive book discussions, student panels and author visits centered on current hot topics of interest. The foundational goals of the program are: 1) Have fun reading and discussing an important book with peers and community; 2) Learn something valuable that will help you to be successful and to make a difference in the world around you. The program was nominated for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the highest award for libraries in the nation, and received a commendation from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

Damon Nance's professional background includes 17 years of experience serving in public and K-12 libraries. He began his career as a volunteer at his local library branch, and was soon hired for an entry-level library page position. He advanced to a Library Assistant position answering reference questions for patrons in the then pre-Internet era. He was promoted to Branch Manager of a small rural library branch where he ran all operations, programs and services single-handedly, then to a medium-sized library as Children's Librarian, then to a large regional library as Young Adult/Reference Librarian. He had the opportunity of a lifetime to set up and open a brand new elementary school library from scratch, and served as an elementary school librarian for the Fontana Unified School District. He was then recruited by the school district to set up and open a brand new high school/public library which was the first joint-use high school/public library project in San Bernardino County. He has served as dean of the library at Norco College for over 11 years and assisted in the process for the college receiving accredited status in 2010.

Damon Nance has served in various positions of ministry for over 20 years. He founded an independent Messianic Congregation ministry which he pastored for over 7 years. He is currently the Associate Pastor at Immanuel Israel Messianic Congregation in Highland, California, where he teaches a weekly face-to-face interactive course on Hebrew Language and Culture. He is the father of 3 girls (Shammah-15; Yovelle-13; Briete-11) and 2 boys (Torah-19; Shomair-7), and enjoys history, tennis, reading, hiking, documentaries, and spending quality time with family. He hopes to travel to Israel one day soon together with family.