Mount Allison appoints new University librarian
2012-08-07 09:00:44
SACKVILLE, NB — Mount Allison University is pleased to welcome Marc Truitt to the position of University librarian at the Ralph Pickard Bell Library.
“We are thrilled to have Marc join the Mount Allison community,” says Mount Allison President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Robert Campbell. “Students, faculty, and staff will benefit from his solid and principled academic values; his skilled, analytical approach; and the breadth and depth of his understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing academic libraries in the 21st century. His input will be invaluable and consequential as the University’s libraries and archives continue to evolve and improve their services and resources for students, faculty, and the community.”
Truitt earned his Master’s in library science from Columbia University in 1991 and worked at Yale, Princeton, Notre Dame, and University of Houston, with his duties falling into the areas of systems, technical services, and acquisitions.
In 2006 he took on the position of associate director, information technology resources and services, at the University of Alberta Libraries and within nine months found his responsibilities doubling in scope when he became associate university librarian, bibliographic and information technology services.
“At the heart of librarianship is a core set of values and a world view about knowledge, information, and how we connect these things with people who are seeking them,” he says. “These values overlap in large measure the core values of the academy. What academic libraries bring to the table is a suite of services that are founded upon substantially the same values as those held by the academy itself.”
Truitt, whose appointment was effective July 15, 2012, says the future of libraries lies in focusing on the services they provide that are unique and valuable — the things libraries can offer that book stores and the Internet cannot.
“The value-add, I have come to believe, is our professional values. They are what differentiate us,” he says. “We live in a time that legitimizes and even worships the concept of ‘good enough’ and we librarians may be a bit of an anachronism with our belief in the provision of high quality intellectual access to excellent and appropriate resources. But because of our values, getting it right ranks higher than getting it fast and easy.”
The Ralph Pickard Bell Library, built in 1969, was named for Mount Allison’s first chancellor. It has the best holdings per student ratio in Canada according to Maclean’s magazine’s annual university rankings.
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