Bob is a Reference Librarian at Palm Beach Atlantic University (FTE: 3,019) in West Palm Beach, FL. He has been a member of ACL since 1983.
Describe yourself using a book title: Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough by Kay Warren. I am a huge believer in the importance of choosing joy and cultivating optimism in your life and workplace.
What’s the best thing about being a librarian? Relationships with people including faculty, staff, students, and guests. Contributing to their lives by meeting their information needs and encouraging them any way possible. People are more important than things.
What are you currently reading? 10 Choices: A Proven Plan to Change Your Life Forever by James MacDonald, Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, Success is Not an Accident by Tommy Newberry
Describe ACL in three words: Christian, Collaborative, Caring
How do you (or How have you), as an academic librarian, contribute to your campus? I just concluded serving two terms on the Faculty Senate and was term-limited. I’ve served several terms on the Faculty Promotion and Evaluation Committee where I currently serve and I enjoy that very much.
My professional career began…by teaching in the inner city of Kansas City, MO at Westport High School in 1968. After two years of classroom teaching, I discovered I was not getting the personal satisfaction I needed. My sister was a certified high school librarian in the state of Kansas and she got me interested in taking classes in library science at the University of MO at KC which I thoroughly enjoyed. The rest is history.
What do you value about ACL? Sense of comradery and a shared sense of calling and ministry. The annual conference is both professionally stimulating and personally enriching.
How were you introduced to ACL? It seems that I have known about ACL forever. To be very honest, I don’t remember who first mentioned ACL to me.
How are you or have you been involved in ACL? Served several years on the Nominating Committee as well as one term on the Board of Directors. Host Librarian for the 2012 ACL Conference at PBA which was a lot of work but was very gratifying. I have enjoyed being a workshop presenter for the last number of conferences.
Do you have any specific interests in the library world? Information literacy instruction and professional growth and development. In my view, enhancing one’s personal skills also ties to professional growth.