NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 23 number 1 - Fall 2002

By Assad Meymandi, President, Friends of the Library Board of Directors

Besides all the usual protocol, I have some special feelings about the Friends' outgoing president, J. Lawrence Apple, that defy ordinary English words. I wish it were appropriate to write these lines in Greek, Latin, Farsi, Turkish, Arameic, or even French. All those languages are far richer in their affective reservoir than the impoverished English! The privilege of knowing, working, and learning from Larry, and his generosity of the soul in offering himself as a role model, friend, and wise counselor make a mere "thank you" seem not enough. But that is all I have to offer.

We are so pleased to welcome board members Wyndham Robertson of Chapel Hill, Cyma Rubin of New York, and Elizabeth Bell of Raleigh. Robertson, whose advancement expertise will serve the Friends well, has been a member of the Friends of the Library Board of Directors since 1990. She retired from the University of North Carolina (UNC) system in 1996, where she served as the vice president for communications for ten years. Before her service with UNC, Robertson worked as an editor at Time and Fortune magazines. Rubin, an alumna and ardent supporter of NC State, graduated with honors from the university’s College of Textiles in 1947. Currently, she is president of Business of Entertainment, Inc., located in New York City. She produced and directed the Emmy Award-winning documentary "Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs." She is also the curator and producer of a major exhibit, Pulitzer Prize Photographs: Capture the Moment, which is touring the country. Bell is a long-time supporter of the NCSU Libraries. Her efforts to establish an endowment at the Libraries in memory of her father led to the creation of the Charles D. "Zack" Arthur Memorial Endowment [see Focus, volume 13.1 (1992): 24-26]. She is an artist and colorist who has shown her work at the Little Art Gallery in Raleigh and the Sumerhill Gallery in Chapel Hill.

The mission of the Friends of the Library, among other things, is to advocate for the library and give reality to the vision of the board, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Susan Nutter, and the staff of the NCSU Libraries. I know how to be an advocate. In the practice of medicine, very early one learns how to be an advocate for one's patients. If necessary, you even put your life on the line. Our advocacy should take the following forms:

• Everyone on the board is a bibliophile, but I hope we all have the psychiatric condition known as bibliomania. This symptom complex clinically manifests itself as an addiction to reading books, taking unusual pleasure in holding books, reviewing books for newspapers and magazines, and even writing books. We need to spread this malady community-wide.
• In these difficult times of budget crisis, we must be ready to support the library. The Libraries, beyond the state funds, relies heavily on private funds to maintain collection purchases.
• We must support the Libraries to maintain up-to-date digital library services and other equipment and furniture.
• Finally, as advocates, we need to demonstrate the value of the library to, and foster support from, a wider audience. We must develop effective strategies for involving people, press, and elected officials in the beautiful tapestry of our work. We must offer the library and its staff the means and opportunities to develop new initiatives to provide services to students, faculty, and the community at large. Building bridges between the Libraries and the community is the backbone of advocacy.