MEMORANDUM
Office of the Provost
University Park .Miami, FL 33199 . Tel 305-348-2151 . Fax 305-348-2994 . http://www.fiu.edu
Florida International University is an Equal Opportunity/Access Employer and Institution . TDD via FRS 1-800-955-8771
TO: The University Community
FROM: Mark B. Rosenberg
SUBJECT: Laurence Miller & the Libraries
DATE: November 9, 2004
Laurence “Larry” Miller, our executive director of libraries since 1981, has informed me that he will be retiring from the University late this summer. It is with regret but profound gratitude that I share this information with you. Of the many transformations at our institution, during the last two decades, perhaps none have have been moreas consequential for our institution as that ofthan the libraries’ blossoming into a vital teaching and research tool serving all our constituentsy.
During these two decades, Larry has provided quiet but determined leadership. He is the principal designer of our library facilities at both Biscayne Bay and University Park. Both facilities ably fit the missions of the two campuses. The Green Library is one of the finest and most functional facilities of its kind of any public university in the United States. Who among us cannot be proud of this sanctuary? Thank Larry MillerIt stands, literally, as a signature building and, emblematically, at the center of our missions.
Larry has also served as the principal steward for the evolving collection of materials housed in both repositories. Year after year he worked with faculty to develop collections profiles that could support and give credence to our aspirations to become a research university. His patience for faculty collection idiosyncrasy and his discipline for materials acquisition have borne fruit for our institution. His vision for the library also included the development of a state-of-the-art online public catalog, a leading- edge information literacy program that has been used as a standard at other university libraries, and the implementation of one of the state’s first online chat reference services in both English and Spanish. Thank Larry Miller.
We could use Larry’s record of service at the state and national level will serve as a benchmark for our own contributions to the profession. Within Florida, he has been active in the statewide association of library directors; he is a co-founder of the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN) and has been its president twice. Nationally, he chaired the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Roundtable twice. He chaired the ALA/Association of College and Research Libraries Intellectual Freedom Committee, and drafted and coordinated development of the Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries, adopted by the ALA and included in ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Manual. In 1993, he received the ALA/ASCLA Professional Achievement Award.
In his private life, Larry has become known as one of the world’s leading experts on the cruise industry. He currently writes for Cruise Travel Magazine and in the past has contributed to Fodor’s Cruises and Ports of Call, Travel Weekly, and Travel Agent Magazine.
ForFrom all of us who value our libraries—their materials and thoughtful and dedicated professional staff,— and for those of us who seek value the comfort and refuge for the life of the mind that our libraries provide, we canthank Larry Miller. He has been a modest but most accomplished steward of this most important resource for our university community. He leaves a legacy that is larger than life. We will build on his exceptional legacy.
We will begin a search for Larry Miller’s successor immediately. I am pleased that our Dean of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Bruce Dunlap, has agreed to chair our search and screen committee.
Office of the Provost
University Park .Miami, FL 33199 . Tel 305-348-2151 . Fax 305-348-2994 . http://www.fiu.edu
Florida International University is an Equal Opportunity/Access Employer and Institution . TDD via FRS 1-800-955-8771