Donor Profile: Petta and Ron Khouw

We sat down with Petta Khouw to talk about her and her husband Ron's philanthropy, how she came to study at Kent State University, earning her master's degree in library science and about working at the State Library of Ohio.

CCI: Tell us your Kent State story. 

Petta Khouw: I went to Ohio State University and got a BA to be a teacher. But I learned that wasn't what I wanted to do. So, the counselors at Ohio State sent me on a job interview to the State Library of Ohio. And they hired me based on my degree but not really having any library experience. That was the start of my library career, and it was my whole career for 30 plus years, which I enjoyed very much.

Then the director of Columbus Public Library system wanted the heads of his libraries to have an MLS — and you can't send all your library directors to school at once. So, he worked it out with Kent State where professors came down to Columbus and taught classes in person. A couple of us at the State Library thought that was a good opportunity to keep working and work towards an MLS.

It took me four years to do it, just taking one core course each quarter. 

CCI: What exactly is the State Library of Ohio?

Petta: The State Library of Ohio serves the state of Ohio. Agencies like the Department of Education or the Highway Department or the Ohio Health Department, and anybody who works as an Ohio employee and has a research need, they ask the State Library for help. It's very, very specialized information. I don't know the numbers on the volumes, but it's a huge library, and we were in the top five in the nation.

CCI: Did working there feel perfectly natural to you from the start? Or was there a moment where you said this is exactly where I want to be? 

Petta: At the library, I didn’t work in just one area. I did reference. I did interlibrary loan. I did genealogy. We did book purchasing and we got involved with the computers very early on. So, it was interesting. It wasn't the same old same old every day. And that made it interesting because you could see, hopefully, that it would impact potential legislation. It was stimulating. 

CCI: How did you come to decide to make gift to the iSchool?

Petta: After I got my degree, of course, I was very, very thankful to have it. My husband Ron and I both wanted to support education, and I felt Kent State was a good place. We both think education is the solution to a lot of problems in the world. We have an internship we pay for every year at Chemical Abstracts Services where he worked, and we have a scholarship in the iSchool. That one is intended for someone interested in an academic setting because I worked in a special library. I’m very happy with the students they’ve given it to, and it’s important to us that goes to a person from a minority background. And right now, we’re just beginning something with the national parks, but in the ranger education area. Rangers are the backbones. They’re the people on the front line in the national parks.

CCI: How many national parks have you been to, and which ones are your favorites? 

Petta: We have been to all the major ones in the United States. It’s funny, my husband introduced me to the National Parks even though he was born in Indonesia, and I was born and raised in this country. There are all these beautiful national parks. On the East Coast we like Acadia up in Maine, and in the West, we like Yosemite, but we also like Bryce Canyon and Zion. Oh, and the Grand Tetons – can't forget that. Those are fabulous. We enjoy hiking in the parks and enjoying the scenery and seeing other people enjoy the parks too. That's what it's all about.

CCI: Was there a tradition of giving in your families? 

Petta: No, absolutely, no. My dad came over when he was 12, and later he served in the army. He went to Ohio State on the GI Bill. Everything he made went to the family. 

CCI: What do you what do you see are the most significant challenges for libraries?

Petta: Well, right now, I think there are a couple of things: censorship has been rearing its ugly head lately. I mean, it's ridiculous, banning books just for language or bad interpretations of the intent of the author. And I think, artificial intelligence is also a bad thing for libraries, because now, students don't even have to look at the internet. They think they can just ask AI to write something, and they don't evaluate anything. Just spit out a paragraph or a whole paper

Librarians guide the students and young children to what's helpful to them and then, once they read the books for themselves, hopefully they’ll be able to interpret and evaluate on their own. AI doesn't do anything in that direction at all.

CCI: How do you see your gift impacting libraries in a long-term way? 

Petta: I think library science is a good career for men and women, and I hope it encourages people to go into librarianship and to try it, if they have an interest. I want people to see that it's still a valid career choice.