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Robert Kieft Named Occidental Librarian
Robert Kieft, a nationally-known librarian with almost 40 years of experience at some of the country’s best-known colleges and universities, has been named College Librarian at Occidental College, effective October 1, 2008.
Kieft comes to Occidental from Haverford College, outside Philadelphia, where he currently serves as librarian and director of college information resources, responsible for both library and information technology services.
Selected from a national pool of candidates, Kieft deeply impressed the members of the search committee, as well as the faculty, students, staff and librarians who met with him as part of the interview process. His thoughtful and engaged understanding of the character of the liberal arts and sciences provides the intellectual and professional foundation necessary to establish the Occidental College Library as the intellectual center of the College and as a national model for the liberal education.
“We are delighted that a librarian and scholar of Bob’s stature is coming to Occidental to help build on our strengths and create an even more successful and innovative library program,” said Occidental President Robert Skotheim. “His experience, vision, and leadership skills will play an important role in enhancing the education Occidental offers to its students.”
During his 20 years at Haverford, Kieft has played a major role in regional efforts to share resources among libraries through such organizations as the Tri-College Library Consortium and the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium. He has been active in national groups including the Reference and User Services Association and the Council on Library and Information Resources. He also is general editor of the new edition of the standard Guide to Reference, now in preparation.
Prior to Haverford, where he also worked as coordinator for reference services and collection development, Kieft spent almost 20 years at Stanford University, where he began as a student assistant and rose to acting chief librarian of the Meyer Undergraduate Library. A graduate of Hope College, he earned a doctorate in drama at Stanford and a master of library science degree at the University of California, Berkeley.