My life in libraries: an homage for National Library Week 2018

We come to the end of National Library week and our celebration of the many ways libraries contribute to our society. During National Library Week we rightly celebrate the role of libraries in society and the difference they make. We seldom talk about the difference libraries make on those of us who have spent our careers in them. This is my brief ramble on my life in libraries.

Having spent my whole adult life working in libraries, I will admit that I am biased.  I’m even one of those librarians who visit other libraries when on vacation, either in the US or abroad. As a kid I was an avid reader. I grew up in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, in Eastern Canada in an era where we had only two channels on TV and even Saturday morning cartoons weren’t always available. Books, for me, were a way to have a new adventure. I remember as a child going to the library with my mother to borrow books as books were expensive and my parents were poor and the library had hundreds to choose from.  I was fascinated by how many books there were and by the wonders of the card catalog.  I was also one of those nerdy kids that used the school library, especially in high school.

I never expected to be a librarian, I had wanted to be an architect until I took a drafting class. Growing up I was fascinated by both history and geography and went off to the University of Manitoba to study history and become a history professor.  After the first year with an incredibly awful history professor and a highly engaging religious studies professor I changed majors.  As one can imagine both history and religious studies were quite book intensive and I spent hours in the library.

In 1977 I went to San Diego to Point Loma Nazarene University; a wonderful camps of 90 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  As an international student (from Canada) I could only work on campus and the only person I knew in California was Dorothy Thomson, a librarian at Point Loma.  I went begging, hat in hand, for a job. In my two years there, I got some rigorous experience. I worked the circulation and reserves desk, checked in print and microform journals (on print Kardex cards) and in my second year, got to be a reference intern where I spent 20 hours a week providing reference service.  This was before any computers so I had to quickly learn all the periodical indexes and most of the reference collection. I also worked for Esther Schandorf, the head librarian, doing bibliographic verification for a major bibliography she was working on. This was my first introduction to OCLC on a then modern beehive terminal. The librarians started saying that I should be a librarian and I, the typical cocky grad student, said no thanks. 

Returning to Canada in 1979, with an MA in theology, I got a job at the University of Manitoba Libraries and applied to a PhD program at the University of Toronto.  Working in current periodicals and helping check-in 13,000 titles and claiming those that didn’t come, taught me the joy/frustration, and sometimes absolute crazy world of journals.  My supervisor said I should be a librarian. I said no as did the University of Toronto.

About a year later I went to work in the library at Canadian Nazarene College, serving as a jack of all trades.  I physically processed collections, shelved, learned to catalog, ordered books, and even assembled and disassembled shelving.  My mentor, Muriel Weston, a retired school librarian, can be credited with finally convincing me to go back to school to become a librarian.  She also helped me buy my first computer. Three successive and very intensive summers later, I graduated with an MLS from the University of Western Ontario in October 1985.

In 1986 I accepted a job as a reference and instruction librarian at Point Loma Nazarene University and once again returned to San Diego. Two years into the job I transitioned to be the cataloger and then the Head of Tech Services and Systems. One of the advantages of working at a smaller and understaffed library is that you get to do a wide variety of tasks. I did library instruction for the Nursing program and developed an interest in medical information. I did a significant amount of original cataloging and authority control and gained an appreciation for the intellectual exercise that it takes to be a great cataloger. One of the big jobs that shaped my career was automation and building a case for automating, choosing a system, doing retrospective conversion, barcoding a collection, and going live.  Every job since has had some aspect of library technology. My boss, library director, Jim Newburg, supported exploring new ideas and gave me many opportunities to grow. My colleagues Ann Rupert, Vernell Posey, Robin Lockerby, and Sharon Bull provided helpful insights to a relative newbie to the profession.

In 1994 I moved with my wife, and twin daughters to West St Paul MN.  During the next 9 years I worked at Northwestern College (Senior Reference Librarian and Systems Librarian), Chippewa Valley Technical College (Library Manager), and Macalester College (Team Leader for Collections Management). Library systems, played a predominant role during this time. I was instrumental in starting the MORE consortium in Western Wisconsin and wrote the RFP for its systems, and I led the systems migration for the 13 library, 8 institution CLIC consortium in MN.  I also had the opportunity to develop collections expertise both in monographs and serials, and had my first opportunity in managing and spending a budget of over $1 million dollars.  Library director Sheila Carlblom (Northwestern), library director Terri Fishel (Macalester) were both influential in my development as they afforded me many opportunities for interesting work. Library staff member Dani Roach (Macalester), a brilliant serials & Microsoft Access guru taught me much about the importance of the workplace environment as well as about diversity and inclusion.

In 2003 I moved, with my wife and three children, from Minneapolis/St Paul, MN to Waterville, ME to become the Director of Libraries at Colby College. In 2004 I finished my EdD in Higher Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University and a few months later, in 2005 we adopted a sibling group of four from Colombia, South America.  Over the fourteen years that I spent at Colby I was privileged to have many opportunities that helped the three libraries grow in collections, services, and expertise. During my tenure we built an on-campus storage facility, did a comprehensive renovation of the main library, and built a digital media lab in the art and music library. I got to collaborate with colleagues and Bates College and Bowdoin College to build a shared collection that supported all three schools. In 2010 I wrote a successful $821K IMLS National Leadership Grant to devolve a print retention strategy with the 8 largest libraries in Maine. .At the state level, I spent 11 years as the Vice Chair of the Maine InfoNet Board, helping with strategic planning, expanding the reach of the consortium, and upgrading the ILS technology infrastructure.  In conjunction with directors from Bates and Bowdoin, helped start the NExpress consortium, a resource sharing consortium in ME, VT, and MA. Colby, being part of the Oberlin Group, I was able to participate in the annual Oberlin Library directors meetings which were a source of both inspiration and an opportunity to grow.

It is hard to note all of the library people in Maine who made an impact both personally and professionally. From the Colby Libraries, Joann Curtis Allen who never said no to any challenge big or small. Eileen Richards, my go to person for information on how things worked on campus, and genuinely funny and true friend.  Colby Librarians Marilyn Pukkila, Peggy Menchen, Sara Prahl, Alisia Wygan tand Darylne Provost to name a few. Bowdoin college librarian Sherrie Bergman with whom I had a Hanukkah lunch every year and her wonderful colleagues Judy Montgomery, Karl Fatig, and Carmen Greenlee. At Bates, VP Gene Weimers, and his colleagues Laura Juraska, John Harrison, and Sharon Saunders we’re influential in my time in Maine. My many colleagues on the Maine InfoNet Board; James Jackson Sanborn, Linda Lord, Jamie Ritter, Barbara McDade, Joyce Rumery, Judy Frost, David Nutty, Steve Podgajny, Sarah Campbell, Pauline Angione, and Dick Thompson.  These folks and I made a real difference for academic and public libraries in Maine and they continue to do so in my absence.

In 2017, I moved back to Southern CA, with my wife and four of the seven children, to become the Dean of the Library at Cal State Fullerton. We had severe budget challenges, and a building that was inadequate for 41,000 students. Greater Los Angeles area is a minority majority area with people from almost every ethnic and racial group from across the globe. CSUF is the most diverse place that I have worked, with more than half of the students being first generation students.  The students were wonderfully engaging; very happy for the opportunities that were provided. They came to the library in droves, with more than 1.75 million visits per year. I was privileged to work with a great, dedicated, and creative group of librarians and staff who were totally committed to making a difference for students. Even though my time at Fullerton was short I will carry very fond memories of the library and the students, and over time many I worked with will be added to the list of people who have shaped my life.

My life has been shaped by the libraries that I have worked at and by the librarians and library staff in each and every one. My daughter Rachel recently graduated with an MLIS from University of Western Ontario, so the tradition continues. I have also been heavily involved professionally in ALA, ACRL, and IFLA, as well as other related organization such as the Coalition for Networked Information, the Center for Research Libraries, SPARC, and the HathiTrust.  I have many friends and colleagues in small and large libraries across the United States and around the world, as well as colleagues in the technology and academic publishing space.  Notable people that have influenced me, to name a few: Jim Neal (Columbia), Mary Ellen Davis (ACRL), Courtney Young (Penn State), Trevor Dawes (Delaware), Maggie Farrell (UNLV), John Szabo (LA Public), Maureen Sullivan (Consultant), Rebecca Jones (Dysart and Jones), Jane Burke (ProQuest), Caroline Brazier (British Library), Pam Bailey & Irene Hoffman (OCLC). Each of these wonderful people and so many others are part of what makes libraries an exciting place to live and work and make a difference and they have made a difference in my life and career.