New ILRC dean prepares for future library
As the construction of the new Jerry Falwell Library nears completion, the Integrated Library Resource Center (ILRC) will also be adding a new member to their staff.
Marcy Pride was recently promoted to become the new dean of the ILRC, succeeding former dean Carl Merat.
Pride first came to Liberty University in January 2006, where she was the head of public services. She held that position until October 2009, when she was called to another job.
This past March, she moved back to Liberty and became the associate dean for research and customer service. According to Pride, she returned because of the challenge and opportunity that was presented in terms of helping to redesign the customer service approach for the library.
“She really is academically prepared,” ILRC Head of Communication and Customer Services Rachel Schwedt said. “She has a wide level of experience in academic libraries. And personality-wise, she is very good for us right now. She will carry us over to the new library.”
Pride was the former director of the Oyer Memorial Library at Washington Bible College and Capital Bible Seminary. She has held successful careers in the fields of public relations, social work and library services, and has more than 20 years experience in establishing and managing mutual efforts.
Besides her credentials, Pride, along with the ILRC staff, are always, and have always been, here for the purpose of the students.
“We need to do whatever it is that we need to do to make sure that students become skillful in finding, evaluating and using information, and that they can do this efficiently, effectively and ethically,” Pride said. “The library’s main mission is to make sure that when students leave us, they have more skills in this area then they had when they came.”
The new library will truly be state-of-the-art. According to the Pride, the Jerry Falwell Library will offer the latest computer technology, including virtual shelf-browsing, online room scheduling, collaborative projection equipment, digital signage, digital kiosks and a robotic book retrieval system.
There will also be more than 40 group-study rooms, including rooms specifically for graduate students and faculty, and a two-level food court.
“Were honored that we are able to do this in this new place, because many library staffs are being cut back, and we’re at a very exceptional place, where we’re getting a brand-new, beautiful library where we can help our students grow and develop,” Pride said.
Pride is a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Looked highly upon by the ILRC faculty, Pride intends to push forward to a bright future for Liberty University and the new library.
“She’s delightful, really,” Schwedt said. “She has a good sense of humor, and she’s also very ambitious and very forward-looking. She has a high level of expectation. Her desire is to produce an excellent product for the students and the faculty. She’s just a woman of vision, and that’s exactly what we need in a dean.”
For more information on the new Jerry Falwell Library, or other information about the ILRC, visit the ILRC customer service center, or visit their homepage at liberty.edu/ILRC.