Steve is a Technical Services Librarian at Indiana Wesleyan University (FTE: 1494) in Marion, IN. He has been a member of ACL since 1968.
Describe yourself using a book title: Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
What’s the best thing about being a librarian? Interaction with students and watching the light come on as they find what they need to write a paper, work on a project, etc.
What are you currently reading? I just finished rereading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and I am now working on the latest issue of The Christian Librarian®.
Describe ACL in three words: Fellowship / Encouragement / Professional
How have you, as an academic librarian, contributed to your campus? I served as secretary of the faculty for six years.
My professional career began...as a student worker who decided that I wanted to work with people instead of working in a chemistry lab in biomedical research. I went to library school instead of graduate school studying chemistry and am positive I made the right choice.
One thing I wish I had known as a beginning librarian…The way librarianship would change over the years. We still work with and help students, but in 1968 it was all paper (card catalog, periodical indexes and abstracts, paper books and periodicals). These all exist, well, we have to drop card from the catalog and but electronic versions of information has gone from a trickle to an uncontrolled wave.
How were you introduced to ACL? My first day of work at Cedarville College I was told by Alberta Chaffe, who at that time was on the ACL Board, that I would be going to the Christian Librarians Fellowship annual conference the next week at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. This was in June 1968.
What do you value about ACL? Even though it is a professional organization I think the Fellowship from the original name is important. I will admit that I was involved as a member of the Board at that time from changing the name from Christian Librarians Fellowship the Association of Christian Librarians. This change was to make it easier to convince administrators to pay conference expenses and membership dues as it sounded more professional.