ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


146 /  C&RL News

Moffett wins academic/research librarianship's 
highest honor

William Andrew Moffett, director of the Hun­
tington Library in San Marino, California, has 
b e e n  nam ed  the 1993 ACRL
Academic/Research Librarian of 
the Year. Moffett will receive the 
award ($3,000 cash and a cita­
tion) at a reception given in his 
honor on June 28, 1993, during 
the ALA Annual Conference in 
New Orleans. The reception im­
m e d ia te ly  fo llo w s ACRL’s 
President’s Program. Baker &
Taylor Books sponsors the re­
ception and donates the cash 
award and citation.

In nom inating Moffett, his 
colleagues said, “He has re­
mained at the forefront of aca­ William
demic and research librarians in
movements whose aims are to preserve and 
increase the pow er of our libraries’ users. Li- 
brarianship has had few leaders who have con­
tributed as much to the profession both within 
libraries and the scholarly community, and he 
truly deserves recognition as Academic/Re­
search Librarian of the Year.”

In selecting Moffett for the association’s high­
est honor, committee chair Paul Dumont said, 
“He has demonstrated leadership as an educa­
tor, an academic librarian, and a historian. . . . 
He embodies the highest standards for the pro­
fession.” The committee, citing Moffett’s lead­
ership in combating the theft of and trade in 
rare books, and for successfully challenging in 
1991 the scholarly monopoly of unpublished 
Dead Sea Scrolls materials, said, “these contri­
butions have brought both national and inter­
national attention to the profession.”

Moffett’s leadership in organizing the Oberlin 
Group of Liberal Arts College Libraries while 
he was director of the Oberlin College Library 
was also noted by the committee. This organi­
zation has brought together a network of 60 
libraries with common goals and problems in 
a way that encourages mutual support on be­
half of each member library.

In recognition of his contributions to the 
profession, Moffett was elected chair of the

College Libraries Section of ACRL (1984-85). In 
1989-90 he was elected president of the asso­

ciation. In 1992 the association’s 
Board of Directors recognized 
Moffett with a special certificate 
o f co m m en d atio n  citing his 
courage, integrity, and commit­
ment to high standards, as an 
exemplar of all members of the 
association for their praise and 
emulation.

Frequently called upon as a 
speaker, both within the library 
p r o fe s s io n  a n d  w ith o u t, 
Moffett’s topics have ranged 
from the poetry of Robert Bums 
to the iconography of the book 
in Western art, from conserva­ A. Moffett
tion issues to automation, from

academic politics to the ethical challenges of 
librarianship.

Moffett has held academic and administra­
tive appointments in several institutions since 
beginning his professional career. He taught 
history at Alma College (Michigan) and the Uni­
versity of Massachusetts at Boston, and has been 
director of libraries at Potsdam College (SUNY) 
and Oberlin College. At Oberlin he occupied 
one of the nation’s oldest endow ed positions 
in academic librarianship, the Azariah Smith 
Root directorship, in which he distinguished 
himself as a library builder and a spokesper­
son for college librarians.

The Academic/Research Librarian of the Year 
Award is given annually to recognize an indi­
vidual who is making outstanding contributions 
to academic or research librarianship and li­
brary development. Previous winners have in­
cluded Carla Stoffle (1992); Richard DeGennaro 
(1991); Patricia Battin (1990); John P. McGowan 
(1989); Edw ard G. H olley (1988); D uane 
W ebster (1987); Margaret Beckman (1986); 
Jessie Camey Smith (1985); Richard D. John­
son (1984); Richard M. Dougherty (1983); Wil­
liam Budington (1982); Beverly P. Lynch (1981); 
Evan Ira Farber (1980); Henriette D. Avram and 
Frederick G. Kilgour (1979); Keyes D. Metcalf 
and Robert D. Downs (1978). ■