Starting a Library from Scratch…Again (Well, Sort of)

Abstract

How does one start a library from scratch? That’s the question I was faced with when I accepted the position as library director for the Charlotte campus of Johnson & Wales University in September of 2004. Many librarians would consider it a dream come true to start their own library. In my case, I was about to do it for the second time...well, sort of. The first time was when I had taken the position as library director of Johnson & Wales’ Florida campus in August of 1997. While not entirely new, the library was operating out of a classroom space when I arrived and, within that first month, moved, under my supervision, to a new 10,000 square-foot facility intended to serve approximately 1,150 undergraduates.