Martin Runkle reappointed as Director of University Libraries

Martin Runkle

Geoffrey Stone, Provost of the University, commented on Runkle’s reappointment. “He is the perfect Director of the University Libraries. Martin has a deep appreciation for the preservation and creation of knowledge, a profound respect for the research mission of our faculty and students and a genuine and personal commitment to the University. We are fortunate, indeed, to have him at the helm of the most central part of our University,” said Stone.

Runkle has worked in the University Library system since 1969, when he began his studies at the University’s Graduate Library School. He received an M.A. in Library Science from the University in 1973 and became a member of the professional staff of the Joseph Regenstein Library that year.

During his tenure as Director of the Libraries, Runkle has overseen a profound expansion and reorganization of the University’s library system.

“Large research libraries are inherently complex and are growing more so as they incorporate the rapid developments in information technology and expand access to a wide range of information,” he explained.

When Runkle was first appointed Director in 1980, the libraries already held more than 4 million volumes. University library resources now include more than 6.5 million volumes as well as a growing collection of material in other formats, such as microform and full-text electronic books and journals. With the completion of the Regenstein Reconfiguration Project last autumn, the University’s largest research library has benefited through the provision of much-needed additional stack shelving space, the consolidation of service points to allow more effective use of staff and more efficient distribution of new technology.

Runkle also served as the client for the design of the Crerar Library and oversaw the merger of the previously independent Crerar Library with the University’s collections in science, medicine and technology. Crerar opened in 1984.

Runkle served as a Senior Lecturer in the Graduate Library School from 1977 until the School closed in 1990. He led courses on the topics of library automation and seminars on administration of research libraries.

Prior to entering the Graduate Library School, Runkle worked for a number of years as a teacher of English in the United States and in Greece. In addition to his degree in library science, Runkle holds a B.A. in English from Muskingum College and an M.A. in English from the University of Pittsburgh.