Description
- Abstract:
- Ron Fark begins by saying that he came to the Rock as Head of Circulation, moved on to Head of Reference, and then became a member of Scholarly Resources. He says that the Rock was physically similar to the library where he previously worked but had nicer furnishings and he was impressed by how huge the collections were. He was brought to Brown to put in an automated circulation system as he had done at the University of Illiniois. When he arrived here, the library was still finding overdue books by "needling" slips. The new system was a CLSI turnkey system and they entered books as they were checked out. Ron talks about the reserves system and how it changed over the years, and then the Reference department. He talks about remodeling the reference room by moving the reference desk to make it more visible and then moving the card catalog to A-level before it disappeared entirely.He goes on to say that he later got to work with architects to redesign the entire reference space, and that electronic resources came in and printers became more important than copy machines. In the early days, study carrels were extremely popular as well. Ron talks about how library hours grew longer while he was here, that the library as place remains important, but he hopes the human touch is not being lost amid all the electronics. He discusses how the profession of librarianship has changed and roles have blurred. He mentions some memories of student workers and how when he began work here, there was a union strike going on, leading to hard feelings. He also remembers librarian Alice Brendel and the tragedy that took her life. Ron finished with a memory of Lyman Bloomingdale bringing books to donate and how he believes that all Rockefeller libraries have seven steps symbolizing the seven steps of learning or wisdom.
Access Conditions
- Rights
- In Copyright
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
"Interview with Ron Fark"
(2014).
Rock50 Oral History Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:697436/
Relations
Has Parts:
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Interview with Ron Fark
- Type: Stream
- Order: 1
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Interview with Ron Fark
- Type: Pdf
- Order: 2
Collection:
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Rock50 Oral History Collection
This collection contains oral history interviews with longtime members of the Brown University Library staff, in celebration of the Rockefeller’s Library’s fiftieth anniversary in 2014. The interviews were conducted by Brown librarians Carina Cournoyer and Karen Bouchard. Staff members represent …...