From the Fall 2012 Among Friends Newsletter

Dear Friends:

As we prepare to welcome another incoming class of first-year students to Washburn University, I sit at my desk thinking about all we accomplished over the last year and am simply amazed. Your Library and Academic Success staff has again gone above and beyond in ensuring that our Washburn students have access to a range of services that when engaged genuinely help change lives.

I have much to say but let me begin by telling you about someone that we miss a great deal. Our longtime colleague, Assistant Dean of University Libraries Judy Druse, retired this summer. Judy, as many of you are well aware, spent many years advancing the idea that Libraries are more important to student success in the Information Age than at any time in history. She was, as we at Washburn have discovered during the last four years, absolutely correct. Judy’s patient and thoughtful leadership is greatly missed because she never allowed any member of our operations to take our efforts lightly. She ensured that we all remained focused upon preparing Information Literate graduates for the Information Age.

In the last year well in excess of 200,000 students, faculty and community members used the Mabee Library. Our digital branch saw the Community of Learning perform millions of searches for information, so the demands on our resources continue to grow at unprecedented rates. This reality was recognized during Washburn’s 5-year Program Review process, which rated us as "Exceeds Expectations." Librarian David Winchester has long served as our representative to the University Program Review Committee and I would be remiss if I did not publicly thank him for his guidance as we navigated the Program Review process. David’s efforts were and are appreciated.

Dr. Alan Bearman, Ph.D.
Dean of University Libraries