Librarians are stereotypically portrayed as conservative, suspicious busybodies whose favorite utterance is "Shhhh!" -- but College Librarian Richard Lucier is anything but typical. A native of Massachusetts and a former librarian of the University of California system, Lucier headed back East in February of 2001. In just over a year since his arrival at Dartmouth, he has put into motion a plan that will dramatically affect the future use of the library system.
Librarians, it may seem, are at the most basic level curators of books. This is not so for Lucier, who has worked at the one of the first digital libraries in the country -- the California Digital Library, which served all 10 campuses of the University of California.
According to Lucier, the primary way a digital library differs from a conventional library -- besides the shift from paper to the electronic medium -- is that "it is involved in the creation of knowledge, not just accessing old knowledge that has already been created."
Lucier's pragmatism is surprising for someone with 30 years experience in libraries. "My interest in the profession stems back to my childhood years and a wonderful librarian I knew at the public library in the small town where I grew up," he remembered.
Lucier found that libraries were ideal places to bring his interests in education and public service together and earned a Master's degree in library science from Rutgers University.
His decision to return to New England was motivated in part by a desire to return home. More importantly, however, Lucier wanted the opportunity to work in a smaller, more close-knit educational community.
"I was interested in going to a smaller institution where you could have more personal contact with faculty and students," he said, also noting the allure of Dartmouth's prestigious reputation. In addition, Lucier was attracted to the college's technological focus.
"Dartmouth seemed to fit all those things, and it's a great place to be," Lucier commented contentedly.
"Students are very direct and accessible, and the faculty are pleasurable as well," he said.
As 17th librarian of the college, Lucier's tasks include planning the operations of the entire campus library system and acting in various administrative capacities.
Additionally, he serves on the Center for Humanities Advisory Committee and is a member of the editorial committee of the University Press of New England.
Lucier stresses personal interaction with all library users as a key component of his job. In addition to meeting students' needs, "it's important for me to work closely and collaborate with faculty so I know what their research needs are," he said.
The librarian's contacts extend beyond current students and faculty -- he also interacts with graduates of the college. "Many of the alumni's fondest memories are about the library," Lucier said with a grin.
Tradition plays a large role on the Dartmouth campus, and students and alumni often express trepidation when changes are proposed, complicating Lucier's plans for the digital library at Dartmouth.
"Because Dartmouth is rich in tradition and has recognized excellence in many spheres, the process of improvement and change can be somewhat slow. Given the degree of change which is occurring in academic libraries, moving the Dartmouth Library forward at the desirable rate is challenging," he said.
Nevertheless, Lucier plans on implementing his technological expertise honed at the California Digital Library, integrating more electronic content into Dartmouth's library system beginning this coming fall.
Lucier said that the college has identified new strategic goals for the upcoming decade, but as always, the library's primary mission will be "to advance scholarship and research, foster learning, and support excellence in teaching through the management of scholarly information."
Optimistic about the direction technology and information are headed in the library, he said, "this is an enormously challenging time in academic research libraries, which are undergoing a major transition from being physical places to integrating the virtual with the physical.
"Information technology is making us take a close look at student and faculty information needs and behaviors in order that we might design and deploy resources and services helpful to them in their pursuit of learning," Lucier continued.
"The greatest opportunity is that we can design a library which each user will be able to personalize and customize, and no longer be bound by the 'one-size-fits-all,'" he said. As traditional stacks give way to digital collections, the libraries at Dartmouth are slated to accommodate more students of varying study habits.
The primary role of the library in the Dartmouth community, Lucier asserted, is that of a center of learning.
"It is very rewarding to see students develop into lifelong learners through their experiences with learning how to find, evaluate and use information," he said. "There are always new subjects to learn and become interested in."
