In Memory: Richard Hines, June 22, 1946

University Librarian Emeritus and former Dean of Information Resources, Richard (Rich) Hines passed away on May 11, 2021 in St. Augustine, Florida, at the age of 74.

Dean Rich Hines, M.S. arrived at UP in 1997 as interim director of the Clark Library and served as permanent director from 1998-2006. During those years he provided oversight for the library and Instructional Media Center. In fact, from 2002-2006, Hines assumed dual roles as Library Director and Dean of Information Resources. And was called back from retirement to continue as Chief Information Officer for five months in 2007-08.

During his years as Library Director, the main book collection was reorganized by subject with some sections reclassified by call number to the Library of Congress classification system. The library organization was restructured to meet new needs with the redesign of an access services department combining circulation, periodicals services, interlibrary loan, reference, and outreach services and user education. Additional patron-use computer workstations were increased throughout the library, and access to electronic databases and library consortium resources improved for on- and off-campus use. Dean Hines is also credited for laying the groundwork for the successful library instruction program in place today.

As Dean of Information Resources, Hines was responsible for extending the reach of technology services across campus. His team introduced the UP community to the first version of the campus portal, Campus Pipeline (the precursor to today’s PilotsUP), and brought computer-lines and modem-lines to each residence hall (bringing email to the reach of every corner of campus– in the long-ago time when computers and phones need wall-connections!). Leading Information Resources, Dean Hines reorganized Computer and Telecommunication Services from audio-visual equipment services into a technical support unit of experts for infrastructure, information systems, and web services bringing on high-quality integrated technology-based services to faculty, staff, and students.

As service was the hallmark of Dean Hines’ work ethic, it seems fitting to share these words from him in an email to the library staff as he was closing up his office to begin retirement in 2006: “As I sit here doing my final cleanup before Drew [Harrington] arrives, I want to take this chance to say thanks to each and every one of you. Without a doubt, the library stands out as THE service unit on campus. There is only one reason why this is so, and that’s YOU! Your efforts have made this a far better place than it was when I arrived in 1997. Your commitment to service is known throughout campus, so much so that the Northwest Commission [on Colleges and Universities] doing the University’s 10 year review [in 2001] specifically commended us on our service ethic.”