What are your duties as Dean of the library?

To make sure the library operates to its fullest capacities and to explore new ways to bring services and resources to students and faculty.  We support the educational mission of the institution and it’s my job to figure out ways to do that.

What are some of your hobbies?

I like to read.  I am a huge big movie buff, I love movies; I watch about 15 movies a week.  I love seeing movies in the movie theatre with the big screen and I love being around people to see their reactions.  I also play a little golf, too.

What kind of sports do you like and what are your favorite teams?

I love baseball.  I am a Mets fan, but it’s hard to be one these days.  I am also a long suffering Cleveland Browns fan, having been from Cleveland.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Older (he kids). You know, I’m still trying to answer that question.  To be honest, I wasn’t interested in becoming a librarian until graduate school.  I was working on a Master’s Degree in geography, but I always knew it was going to be a career in academics.

Where is your favorite place you have ever traveled to?

Mexico.  I had a good opportunity to go by train across Mexico.  I saw a lot of the country site.  I was young in college;  and  it was a spring break kind of thing, but that was pretty memorable.  I’ve actually been all over the United States with the exception of the Pacific Northwest.

Where would you like to travel that you’ve never been before?

Europe.  I have had opportunities to go, but they all fell through.

If you could recommend a good book, what would it be and why?

“Encounters with the Archdruid” by John McPhee.  It’s a great book.  I read it when I was younger and I have used it in first year seminars that I have taught in other places.  It’s not preachy, it comes to no conclusion, and it makes the reader make up his/her own mind.  It’s an excellent book for students who are just starting college to learn how to form arguments and make their own decisions.

What was the last movie you saw in theatres?

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” with Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks.  I did and I did not like this movie.  It was a little preachy, but it was a decent film.

What kind of music do you listen to?

I’m a parrothead.  I love Jimmy Buffet.