Earlham College Library Honored for Excellence Among Academic Libraries

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) — a division of the American Library Association — presented Earlham College its Award for Excellence in Academic Libraries in acknowledgment of the library's positive impact on the College's academic program.

Earlham represented liberal arts colleges among the three colleges and universities receiving the 2001 award, the others being the University of Arizona and Austin Community College in Texas. It's the latest in a history of honors and recognitions accorded Earlham's library and librarians.

Tom Kirk, library director and coordinator of information services at Earlham, said the ACRL was looking to recognize colleges and universities whose library services made an exceptionally strong impact on teaching and learning.

"That is certainly the case at Earlham," Kirk said. "Students here discover that the library is more than a building with books — it's also an organic and effective tool for expanding their knowledge." Kirk noted that students entering Earlham are taught at the outset the basics of using the library's considerable collection of books and periodicals. Subsequently, students are taught how to use sophisticated electronic and print information services appropriate to course assignments.

Kirk said the ACRL was particularly impressed with the exceptional research skills Earlham students exhibit later in graduate schools. "Earlham grads report that they are ahead of their graduate or professional school peers in terms of their ability to do research." Kirk also noted that "an unusually high number of Earlham students go on to careers in librarianship."

Another outcome, said Kirk, is the fact that Earlham's library staff are involved in the institution outside the traditional roles as librarians.  Many teach courses, lead off-campus study programs, and hold leadership positions in the College's governance.

"Earlham's library program is a model which many people have studied and written about since Evan Farber developed the program more than 30 years ago," Kirk said.

Farber, who directed the College's library services from 1963 until his retirement in 1994, established Earlham's preeminence in academic library effectiveness through a series of initiatives, notably the introduction of bibliographic instruction, a program that teaches students how to use the library's wealth of resources. Over the years, Farber also oversaw the continual upgrading and modernization of the library's services and worked to make the library a central feature in the teaching and learning process.

In 1980, the ACLR named Farber the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. Kirk, Farber's successor, received the prestigious Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award in 1984. Farber was given that award in 1987.

The Earlham library system is comprised of Lilly Library and Wildman Science Library, the latter headed by biologist and science librarian Sara Penhale.

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This page last updated: May 10, 2005