Mardigian Library prepares to say goodbye to director Tim Richards

After 22 years as director of the Mardigian Library, Timothy F. Richards will retire on June 30.

During his tenure, the library has seen numerous changes--from a new library automation system in 1993 to the recent shift from paper to digital resources. When Richards came to UM-Dearborn in 1989, the library's journal collection included approximately 1,600 paper journal subscription. Today the library provides access to almost 20,000 full-text online journal titles, but only 400 paper journal subscriptions.

Promoting librarian engagement in the campus community was always a priority for Richards. Under his guidance, both librarians and library staff participate in a wide range of campus committees and collaborations. With Richards' support, a number of campus collaborations were initiated, including The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archives, the Campus Archives, and a project to catalog the Armenian Research Center collection.

Richards was also influential in the Civic Engagement Project. He served on the project's steering committee and offered space in the library for the project's staff members. He described some of this work in a book chapter he co-authored: "From Isolation to Engagement: Strategy, Structure, and Process" in Convergence and Collaboration of Campus Information Services (P. Hernon and R. Powell, eds. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008).

Over the years, Richards led the library staff in various strategic planning sessions. He encouraged librarians to develop the data collection processes and evaluation instruments needed to gather important information for data-based decision-making. The development of these methods is described in a book chapter co-authored by Richards: "What, So What, Now What" in Evidence-based Librarianship: Case Studies and Active Learning Exercises (E. Connor, ed. Oxford, UK: Chandos, 2007).

Richards created an environment that enabled staff to be successful. He was a strong advocate for staff professional development, creating the support necessary to achieve this goal. He has also been an outstanding mentor, always encouraging staff members to maximize their potential. Over the years, a number of student assistants and staff members earned library science degrees and became successful librarians. Richards also established a Student Incentives Program to help retain the library's excellent student workers.

Fiscal responsibility and judicious budgeting were always a priority for Richards. When he first came to campus in 1989, the skyrocketing cost of serial subscriptions was threatening to consume the entire library materials budget. Through careful planning and consultation with faculty, the budget was allocated among disciplines and programs so that each area could determine the best proportion of serials, monographs and other materials.

Richards was the driving force behind the library's acquisition of the May G. Quigley Collection from the Grand Rapids Public Library. The collection of more than 4,000 children's literature books spans the period from the late 1700s through the mid-1900s. The collection, renamed the Juvenile Historic Collection, is now an important resource for research and teaching.

Before coming to UM-Dearborn, Richards was director of the Central and Science libraries at Vanderbilt University from 1985-1989. He also served in various positions from the 1970s through the mid-1980s at the University of Michigan Library in Ann Arbor.

Richards is known for his strong leadership, visionary skills, philosophical outlook, fairness, and sense of humor, to name just a few of his outstanding skills and traits. He will be greatly missed by the library staff, and everyone wishes him all the best!

--Tidbits about Tim--

• likes really strong coffee
• is married to a librarian
• has two daughters (one is an engineer and recently married; the other is starting library school this fall)
• is planning to spend some of his retirement time cooking and gardening
• was a Green Beret during the Vietnam War
• loves soccer and baseball
• likes bagpipe music (a result of his Scottish heritage)
• likes cats
• likes jazz and classic rhythm and blues music from the 1950's and 60's

Story submitted by Mardigian Library staff