Im(press)ive Growth
As it celebrates its 10-year anniversary this fall, the Library is still counted among the “new” buildings on Pacific University’s Forest Grove Campus.
A decade, after all, is nothing compared to the original campus library, Carnegie Hall, which marked its centennial in 2012, or the recently renovated Pacific Hall, which was the library from 1967 to 2010.
But as a repository of information in the high-tech Information Age, the Library is working to keep its image — and services — fresh.
Built in 2005, the Library was the first certified “green” building at Pacific. The brick building features large pictures windows and skylights. Rows of books and journals intermingle with quiet study rooms, computer stations, art exhibits, and leisurely reading spaces.
Art is infused in the design, from the vibrant glass panels by alumnus Walter Gordinier ‘73 to the furniture handcrafted from campus trees.
Access to information, though, is the main priority. The main collection includes more than 100,000 titles, not counting videos and music CDs. Then there are government documents, periodicals, and an online catalog of thousands of journals and periodicals.
Alumni are welcome to use the physical and online repository while on campus.
The Library isn’t just for storing information, though; Pacific has sought to share it, as well. The university began publishing open-access (free) academic journals in 2010.
This year, it also launched the Pacific University Press, a scholarly publisher of peer-reviewed works.
The Pacific University Press will debut its first book in May 2016. The paperback will be a collection of essays written by faculty in Pacific’s Master of Fine Arts In Writing Program and edited by faculty member and award-winning poet Kwame Dawes.
Also this fall, Pacific debuted Bee Tree Books, a cooperative publishing service helping authors publish their books professionally, though without the rigorous academic review process of the formal press. Bee Tree Books published its first titles in December 2015. ■
Pacific University Press
The Pacific University Press joins the ranks of fewer than 200 university presses in North America. Dedicated to the Pacific mission of discovery, the press will work primarily through open-access and hybrid publishing models, providing an avenue for rigorously reviewed academic work to reach readers. Publication will be guided by an editorial board.
Bee Tree Books
Pacific founder Tabitha Brown is said to have sold honey from a campus tree to support the home for orphans, which would later become Pacific University. Named for that tree, Bee Tree Books is a cooperative publishing service. Authors are responsible for content, while the Bee Tree Books assists with design, printing and distribution.
Student Publishing
The Libraries partners with the Department of English at Pacific University to offer an undergraduate minor in editing and publishing. This interdisciplinary program teaches students the publishing process and affords them hands-on learning opportunities, such as internships with the publishing entities at Pacific.
This story first appeared in the Winter 2015 issue of Pacific Magazine. For more stories, visit pacificu.edu/magazine.