Tess is Pendergraft's Technical Services Librarian, managing the Cataloging Department and serving as the bibliographer and liaison for behavioral and biological sciences and mathematics. She has been at Tech for fifteen years and holds a B.F.A. in Studio Art and Psychology and a Master of Library Science from Louisiana Tech University. She is a long-time reviewer of audio books for Library Journal and a member of the Hounds of the Internet, a Sherlockian scion society.

Before becoming a librarian, Tess rode and trained award-winning show horses in Texas. She is an avid gardener, has her own table of resting orchids at Taylor's Nursery in Russellville, and has an extensive flower and plant garden at her home. In addition, she enjoys her pets, photography, reading, and travelling.