Head of Grinnell College Libraries Will Chair Board of Center for Research Libraries

Grinnell, Iowa -- Richard Fyffe has been elected chair of the board of the Center for Research Libraries, an international consortium of more than 260 university, college and independent research libraries. Founded in 1949, CRL supports advanced research and teaching by preserving and making primary source material available to scholars.

Fyffe is the Rosenthal Librarian of the College and an associate professor at Grinnell.

A member of the CRL board since 2010, Fyffe will serve as chair until April 2014.

"CRL has traditionally been a community of large research libraries, but its collections are profoundly important to faculty research and inquiry-based learning at other kinds of institutions, including colleges like Grinnell," said Fyffe. "Digital technology makes it possible for smaller institutions to provide their students and faculty with resources comparable to those offered by large libraries, and CRL is a leader in using digital technologies to share and preserve significant primary source materials. Smaller institutions have a responsibility to share in supporting this emerging scholarly network, and I am honored to be able to help CRL continue to move forward."

In his role as chair this year, Fyffe will work closely with the CRL president and executive committee to help members and other stakeholders understand CRL's rapidly evolving role in preserving digital scholarly sources and increasing their availability to scholars and students. He will also represent the board on the steering committee for a new partnership between CRL and the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology, the world's foremost independent research library devoted to science, engineering and technology.

About Richard Fyffe In addition to his work with the CRL, Fyffe is currently a member of the editorial board for College and Research Libraries, a top-ranked journal in the field of academic librarianship. He has served as co-chair of the Scholarly Communications Committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries/American Library Association, and was a board member and treasurer of BioOne, a not-for-profit electronic publishing partnership in biological, ecological and environmental sciences.

Fyffe has a strong interest in open access programs that make scholarly information freely available all over the world, and has published on issues related to the digitization of collections and the philosophy of technology.

Rosenthal Librarian at Grinnell since 2006, Fyffe earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in philosophy from the University of Connecticut, and he holds an M.S. degree in library and information science from Simmons College in Boston.

About Grinnell College Since its founding in 1846, Grinnell has become one of the nation's premier liberal arts colleges, enrolling 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries. Grinnell's rigorous academic program emphasizes excellence in education for students in the liberal arts; the college offers the B.A. degree in a range of departments across the humanities, arts and sciences. Grinnell has a strong tradition of social responsibility and action, and self-governance and personal responsibility are key components of campus life. More information about Grinnell College is available at www.grinnell.edu.

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