NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 25 number 1 - Fall 2004

Friends of the Library News--President's Column

By Suzanne Purrington, President, Friends of the Library Board of Directors

I am very excited to be serving as president of the Friends of the Library Board of Directors this year. I have been on the Friends of the Library Board since 2000. The Friends of the Library is a volunteer organization that supports the NCSU Libraries by raising funds and sponsoring special events for the university community.

Last year, under the leadership of Assad Meymandi, our past president, we sponsored the NC Literary Festival in the spring, which was a grand success. I want to thank Dr. Meymandi for his past, and what we hope will be continuing, service to the Friends of the Library.

During my two years as president, I will work with library administrators to ensure that library needs are given top priority. The board will assist library personnel in finding new funding opportunities for library initiatives. The goal is to make sure that the library has the resources it needs to continue its excellent tradition of providing the best in services and resources for students and faculty.

We have many exciting events planned for the coming year. First, the Fall Luncheon is on November 10, 2004. The guest speaker is Elaine Orr, associate professor of English, specializing in American Literature and feminist theory. The title of her talk is "Kindred, Stranger: A Nigerian/American Autobiography." Tom Wolfe, author of notable works such as The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff, will give a reading at the McKimmon Center on December 1. As usual, in spring 2005 the Friends will host its annual Book Sale and Spring Dinner (which was displaced by the North Carolina Literary Festival last spring).

The library is also hosting a special exhibit on the GI Bill of Rights and its impact on NC State, which is on display in the lobby of the D. H. Hill Library from October 14 through December 22. This exhibit is free and open to the public. I encourage all FOL members to take advantage of this terrific exhibit that showcases images and materials from the Libraries' Special Collections Research Center.

I want to recognize and thank the donors listed on the Honor Roll of this edition. Their support is crucial to the excellence of the NCSU Libraries. I also would like to take this opportunity to introduce our newest board members, some of whom have served on the board before. We deeply appreciate their dedication to the Friends of the Library Board and to the NCSU Libraries. New board members not listed below will be featured in the second issue of the Focus

Charleen Clark is an information scientist at Bayer CropScience in the Research Triangle Park. She works with toxicologists, eco-toxicologists, environmental chemists, formulation chemists, and regulatory scientists. She has been a chemical information scientist for nineteen years, beginning with Burroughs Wellcome and then moving to the Bayer CropScience legacy companies, Rhone-Poulenc and Aventis CropScience. Clark graduated from St. Louis University with a B.S. in chemistry. She has been affiliated with the NCSU Libraries through the Friends' Corporate Partners Program since 1999.

Bobby Purcell has worked at NC State for twenty-three years and is currently executive director of the Wolfpack Club. He has already served one term on the Friends of the Library Board and was reelected to serve another term. Purcell proved instrumental in obtaining the Wolfpack Club's $100,000 gift to the Libraries in 2003. He is currently leading the $50 million Goal Line Drive Campaign for the expansion of Carter-Finley Stadium.

W. Trent Ragland III was reelected to serve another term on the FOL board. He is the owner and president of Ragland Properties, Inc., a Raleigh-based real estate development company. Ragland, a 1980 NCSU business management graduate, is actively involved with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wake County, St. Mary's School, and Peace College.

Ron Spivey has been a superior court judge in Forsyth County since 2001. Before that he served as a district court judge in Forsyth County from 1994 to 2001. He graduated from NC State in 1982 with a degree in political science, and he received his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1985. Spivey is a member of the North Carolina Domestic Violence Commission, the Governor's Crime Commission, and Stop Child Abuse Now.