CONNECT. CELEBRATE. Greetings to all,
It is a pleasure to present to you the annual report issue of the Commons. The library was able to accomplish important goals in 2010-11 due to the dedicated and talented library faculty, staff, and student employees. I hope you enjoy reading about the Information Literacy program which last year reached over 15,000 students, the new collections we have added to support faculty and student research, our engagement accomplishments, and the efforts we have made to improve effectiveness. A special thank you goes to Mary Helen Ridenhour whose donations have improved the library in a number of ways and to Charlie Cobb who inherited his love of libraries from his parents and who has brought a new sense of excitement to this campus through the winning football program and other sports. In this issue we recognize all the donors to the library and to the library’s student employee scholarships. I also want to share with you the news that my husband Rao Aluri and I have made arrangements to take our donations to the next level through a planned gift. Although we had known for a long time that we wished to make such a gift, the time was right with our son out of college and into his professional training. I have been grateful to all of our donors who have made significant gifts and also planned for estate gifts. When the time came to make our own commitment, it felt really good because of our love for Appalachian, the students, and the library.
Mary Reichel, Yosef and Rao Aluri
In recognition of the wonderful library personnel, Rao and I decided to have the income from our endowment go to provide travel support to library faculty and staff for professional development, training, research, and service activities. The income from the Reichel/Aluri University Library Faculty and Staff Enrichment Endowment will support one or two individuals every year. It pleases us that our names will be attached to funding available in perpetuity. An endowment is lasting evidence of our commitment to this library and university. To all of you who are considering planned gifts, I encourage you to explore the options and make the commitment. It feels right. Best wishes for a great fall and winter,
Mary Reichel, Ph.D. University Librarian Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor for Library and Informational Studies 2