Weinberg Library Dedication Conducted, 1992

1992-09-26

Shedlock, Lynne Slack

Newspaper clippings

Weinberg Memorial Library

Dedications

Billington, James H.

Panuska, Joseph A.

University of Scranton Archives

2012-002-p058_001

Archival Records

Campus Libraries

Times Shamrock Communications

[Please note that computer-generated transcripts include formatting, spelling, and grammatical irregularities and errors.]
Weinberg Library Dedication Conducted
By LYNNE SLACK SHEDLOCK
Times Staff Writer
The librarian of Congress discussed the role of libraries in fostering and continuing democracy Friday at the dedication ceremony for the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Memorial Library at the University of Scranton.
James H. Billington, offering the main address at the convocation, which began with an academic procession, also spoke on the advances that the Library of Congress is currently making through the use of new technology.
Billington, a native Pennsylvanian who is a Princeton graduate and earned his doctorate as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, said that much of the electronic data that comes instantaneously into libraries needs to be ordered by human communities into manageable dimensions. Humanism and democracy, he noted, were created by the culture of the book.
"Humanism and democracy, to be sustainable on a continental scale and to be competitive in the global market place, must have the dynamism that comes from constant renewal through an ever-expanding base of knowledge," he said.
Billington deplored the "couch potato" culture, blasting the home entertainment center as the rival of libraries, which he called, "temples of democratic pluralism."
He said the Library of Congress is making a special effort in the international arena to bring data and government documents from other countries to the United States. In addition, he said, Congress has asked the library to assist the fledgling democracies of Eastern Europe by providing them with information technology.
But the main goal of the Library of Congress, Billington said, is to deliver its unique collections by
electronic means to libraries throughout the country.
"The library, properly staffed and equipped, as you have done here in Scranton, will remain central to the Information Age, no matter how glitzy the new technology becomes," he said. "The technology is a means to an end, only part of the transmission that leads data into information, flowering into wisdom and creativity."
Billington received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the university. The degree citation
was read by Ellen M. Casey, professor of English and president of the Faculty Senate.
Other speakers at the dedication ceremony focused on the role that the $13.3 million facility will play in the university community.
The Rev. J.A. Panuska, SJ, university president, noted that groundbreakings have become common at the U of S over the past year.
"None are more meaningful than the one we're doing today," he said, adding that bringing the library to reality was "quite a challenge."
Charles E. Kratz, library director, said that, "without a first-rate library, we could not build the future on the past and present." He also called the facility the "heart of the campus."
Robert F. Pugliese, chairman of the board of trustees, noted that too often, the most fundamental right - that of freedom of expression - is taken for granted. The library, he said, is a reflection of that right.
"The library is a citadel of freedom," he said.
Also participating in the ceremony were: Richard H. Passon, provost and vice president for academic affairs; Rabbi Samuel Sandhaus, executive director of the Jewish Home; the Rev. Thomas D. Masterson, S.J., vice president for
University Ministries and university chaplain; Robert T. Kelly, trustee of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation; Lee J. Williams, vice president for academic affairs, University of St. Thomas; and the Rev. James C. Timlin, bishop of Scranton.
An academic procession begins the convocation ceremonies for the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Memorial Library at the University of Scranton. Below, the Rev. J.A. Panuska, president of the university, bestows an honorary doctor of humane letters on principal speaker James H. Billington, librarian of Congress. (Staff Photos by Michael Mullen)

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