Susan Austin Smith began working at West Georgia College (WGC) in the Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library at the Circulation desk in 1965 when she was a first year student. She was eventually hired on full-time as a periodical room clerk. After some time away from WGC, Susan returned in 1976 with her Masters in Library Studies and was hired as the interlibrary loan and map librarian. During her career at Ingram library, she worked as the library archivist, serials coordinator and as head of acquisitions.

In March 2007, she was named Associate Director of University Libraries and supervised a staff of 32 people. Smith notable contributed to updating technology in the library. In October 2009, Smith went into semi-retirement, remaining part-time as Head of the Collections Department. By 2010, she fully retired with plans to travel and spend time with her family.