Prestigious award goes to Dean of FAU Libraries
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Dr. William Miller, winner of the 2014 Gilbert Mudge Award, stands in the atrium of the Wimberly Library on FAU’s Boca Raton campus.
Most of us have never heard of the Gilbert Mudge Award, but in the world of reference librarians it is the equivalent of winning an Oscar.
The Judaica Sound Archives and the entire staff of the Recorded Sound Archives is pleased to congratulate Dr. Miller on this well-deserved award. Excellence in reference librarianship with a strong commitment to instruction has been the hallmark of his long and distinguished career.
Since his arrival at FAU in 1987 the Wimberly Library has undergone amazing changes. Modern technologies have dramatically changed the way that students and faculty use library spaces. Stacks once filled with scientific journals have been replaced by rows of computers where students can access a myriad of electronic journals and proprietary databases in addition to the ever-popular Google.
Dr. Miller has also been committed to strengthening the library’s relationship with its surrounding community. Wanting to make the library relevant and distinctive has been the driving force behind the creation of projects and programs which are truly unique in the world of academic libraries.
Thanks to the vision of Dr. William Miller, the last two decades have been a time of innovative change at FAU Libraries’ special collections. Below is a list of his most notable accomplishments in this area.
Established in 1997, the Klezmer Company Orchestra,is the only professional ensemble-in-residence at any academic library. Using the library’s sheet music collection to create new and exciting programs, the KCO concert is the cornerstone of the annual Kultur Festival, a week-long celebration of Jewish culture.
The library acquired the Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection of rare Americana in 2006. These authentic artifacts are often on display in a newly constructed suite on the Wimberly Library’s 5th floor.
The Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts is unique for viewing “books as art.” It features handmade, one-of-a-kind books created by artists. It opened in 2007 in a newly constructed suite on the Library’s 3rd floor.
Beginning with only a few hundred Cantorial recordings in 2002, the Judaica Sound Archives has grown into the world’s largest online collection of recorded Jewish music. Today, more than 150,000 donated sound recordings constitute the rapidly growing Recorded Sound Archives, which continues the JSA mission and website (www.fau.edu/jsa) and also contains an impressive collection of early vintage phonograph records and more than 21,000 Jazz albums.
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