For immediate release:
May 30, 2008
For more information, contact:
Sarah Segura
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296
sarah@arl.org
Washington DC—Duane E. Webster, Executive Director, Association of Research Libraries (ARL), was presented with the ARL Distinguished Service Award in honor of his outstanding 38-year career as an advocate for research libraries. ARL President Marianne Gaunt, University Librarian, Rutgers University, announced the award May 22 at the 152nd ARL Membership Meeting at a reception saluting Webster's career.
"Under Duane's creative leadership," said Gaunt, "ARL emerged as a significant agent for innovative change in the world of research libraries and in scholarly communication. His contributions are reflected in the admiration of the hundreds of colleagues who he mentored, advised, or inspired by example. Another essential legacy is the culture that he encouraged within the Association, a collegial atmosphere characterized by active and purposeful engagement of strategic issues. His ardent and devoted leadership has made ARL an organization characterized by credibility, influence, voice, and integrity in the world of higher education."
Gaunt also announced that the ARL Board of Directors awarded Webster the honorary title Executive Director Emeritus, a first in the 75-year history of the Association.
Webster will retire June 30 and Charles Lowry begins his three-year term as ARL Executive Director on July 1. Lowry is currently Dean of Libraries and Professor at the University of Maryland and is completing a three-year term as a member of the ARL Board.
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.