(via ACRL)
John D. Brdecka, Head of Print Collection Management at Northwestern University Libraries, is ACRL’s Member of the Week. Some of his responses to interview questions are below. To read the full interview, please go here.
Congratulations!
Describe ACRL in three words
Networking, continuous learning, leadership.
What do you value about ACRL?
I value the community it creates. There are many challenges academic librarians face on a regularly basis and having ACRL and its community available to help transform the challenges into opportunities is a valuable resource.
What do you as an academic librarian contribute to your campus?
My role at Northwestern University Libraries is to maximize service by managing our use of space. And that means much more than where we put our books. Space is a complicated issue because a library is always changing. The contents of its shelves are never static, and its spaces are put to new and different purposes all the time. When we’re doing our jobs right, we are learning all we can about faculty and student needs and then adjusting our services–and our spaces–accordingly. Over many years, with the help of our off-site high-density shelving facility we have transformed static areas of the library into dynamic spaces that accommodate collaborative study, research consulting, and other services supporting the way 21st century scholars work. Much of modern academic life centers on interdisciplinary research, and we’ve responded to facilitate that in our buildings. We have an extensive array of spaces–both on and off campus–and it’s my honor to help make sure each square foot is providing Northwestern with the maximum value.