Christmas could be coming early for some Case Western Reserve University faculty, courtesy of an innovative program at the University Library.

Through this new Library Opportunity Fund, the University Library has developed a grant program that awards to faculty items from their "wish lists" of interdisciplinary resources not normally collected within the library's acquisitions policies.

In its first round of funding, the University Library, joined by the College of Arts and Sciences, earlier this year invested more than $75,000 in special resources for around 15 faculty members.

Individual awards ranged from $1,500 to $25,000, and the new acquisitions include books, journals, manuals, newspapers, a play script and other resources to support faculty in English, religion, modern languages, history, classics, anthropology and electrical engineering and computer science, among others.

Deadlines for faculty proposals for a second round of funding to be awarded this fall are due October 30. Application forms and details will be sent to departments around October 1.

"The Library Opportunity Fund is just one example of how librarians and faculty can collaborate to support the University's vision of becoming the most powerful learning environment in the world," said Gail Reese, associate director for collections at the library. "Through partnerships such as this, the library not only acquires excellent materials but is able to develop specialized services for both faculty and students. As always, librarians welcome the opportunity to partner with faculty to develop programs or classes, both online and in the classroom setting."

The Library Opportunity Fund addresses one of the top five faculty recommendations-to build library collections-in a recent report, "Faculty Priorities for University Libraries," compiled by the Case Faculty Senate Library Committee. According to Karen Oye, head of customer services for the University Library, improving acquisitions also was one of the principal requests in a recent LIBQUAL+ customer service survey of library patrons conducted by the University Library.

"This new program is a wonderful incentive," said John Orlock, professor of theater arts and chair of the senate library committee. "It encourages collaborations among colleagues and supplies faculty with unique, custom-tailored resources that often help to accelerate our work."

New acquisitions requested by faculty and purchased with the first round of funding include a rare English play script-quarto single play edition of "The Maid of Honour" by Philip Massinger-to be used in comparative literature, theater, modern languages and women's studies. A new collection of 19th century American newspapers, including the "New York Herald," features historical coverage of the Civil War, Wall Street, religion and even social elites.

Faculty wishes for special collections in ethics, nonprofit organizations, childhood studies, nanotechnology and Japanese music also have been granted.

The primary faculty awarded inaugural grants from the Library Opportunity Fund include William Deal, religion; Tom Bishop, English; David Hammack, Alan Rocke and Renee M. Sentilles, history; Linda Ehrlich and Takao Hagiwara, modern languages and literatures; Paul Iverson, classics; Jill Korbin, anthropology; Richard Settersten Jr., sociology; and Frank Merat, electrical engineering and computer science.

Return to the online edition of the 9-11-03 Campus News.