NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 27 number 1 - Fall 2006

Friends of the Library: President's Column

By Cyma Rubin, President, Friends of the Library Board of Directors

After all these years, it's not so bad being a freshman. Actually, I'm the 2006 plebe president of the Friends of the Library. My presidency ends in 2008, but I'll be around as emeritus until 2010. I graduated from NCSU, and although they gave me an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts a few years ago, I'm titillated by the idea of finishing my library term with the Class of 2010. Now, this doesn't mean that I'm only interested in freshmen-to the contrary. The only reason I agreed to the presidency was to work toward bringing all students closer to the campus Libraries.

For me, it started last year when students flocked to our "Carousel of Knowledge" outdoor celebration. They rode the carousel, waited in line for cotton candy, shot baskets with the team, and devoured the informational material in the library tent. The students made it clear that they care about the Libraries. My goal is to find the way to create a partnership that will strengthen an intellectual and financial bond between the students and the Libraries. How to do this?

I would like to see a strong and active library student council. Their involvement would be important as the Libraries moves toward completing its goals to: improve and expand library space, improve special collections, enhance digital technology, and support innovative career development. I want to create a special student Web site so that we have immediate knowledge of student's suggestions, criticisms, and why they love the library.

If any of the above is to be achieved, we need to plan for the future. Together, we will bring new energy, enlightenment, and enhancement to the Libraries and its "Carousel of Knowledge."

Finally, I'd like to introduce three new FOL board members who firmly believe in a close union between the students and the Libraries.

M. S. "Brick" Brown III is a senior vice president of Wachovia Bank in Raleigh and serves as the regional managing director in the bank's Wealth Management Division. A native of Washington, North Carolina, Brown earned his bachelor's degree in business management from NC State and currently serves on the Board of Advisors of the university's Graduate School, as well as on the boards of UNC-Chapel Hill's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County, and North Carolina A&T State University.

Frank A. Daniels III is the CEO of Raleigh-based Vital Source Technologies, the leading provider of digital textbooks and other curricular materials in dentistry, nursing, and law. Previously, Daniels served as executive editor of Raleigh's News and Observer, which was founded by his great-grandfather, Josephus Daniels, in 1894. During his tenure as editor, the paper established NandO.net as one of the first Internet newspaper sites. It became a pioneering model for later news Web sites.

Harold E. Swaisgood, NC State professor emeritus of food science and biochemistry, joined the university in 1964 and retired in 2001 with more than 160 peer-reviewed journal publications, thirty-five invited book chapters, and five patents to his credit. During his career, he mentored thirty doctoral students and ten graduate students seeking a master's of science degree. He is the vice president and program chair of NC State's Association of Retired Faculty. In 1999 he was awarded the Holladay Medal for Excellence, the highest honor bestowed on a faculty member by NC State.