William ("Bill") Miller (1947- 2019) was Dean of libraries at  Florida Atlantic University, 1987- 2014.

When libraries approach their millionth book milestone, they usually splurge on one that's sought-after. Florida Atlantic University (FAU) reached that goal in 2005 and William "Bill" Miller decided not to splurge. Instead, he wanted to create the university's millionth book by hand. Using a letterpress in one of the library's centers and handmade paper, several library staffers completed "A Field of Owls," a book about FAU's mascot, the burrowing owl. 

 

William Miller held the BA from Temple University, 1968. Doctor of Philosophy, University Rochester, 1974, and Master of Library Science, University Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1976.

Positions held :

• Reference librarian Albion (Michigan) College, 1976-1980;
• Head reference and government documents Michigan State University Library, East Lansing, Michigan, 1980-1984.
• Associate dean of libraries Bowling Green (Ohio) State University, 1984-1987.
•  Dean of Libraries at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, from 1987- 2014 and adjunct professor teaching the "Seminar in Academic Libraries" at the University of South Florida, School of Information.

A Tribute to William Miller, Past President of ACRL  (edited) 1996-1997.

Miller served as dean of libraries at Florida Atlantic University for 27 years, starting in 1987. He was responsible for the library's first computers,  electronic databases, and most of the special collections, like the Jaffe Center, where the library's letterpress is located.  

His passion projects, according to his peers, were the library's special collections. Those are all the sections in the library that aren't just rows of books.

These includes:

•  Jaffe Center for Book Arts, where students can use an 1890 Wessel iron handpress to create print designs;
• Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection, which is decorated and stocked like a colonial-era library;
• Recorded Sound Archives, which keeps and digitizes vintage records dating back to 1910.  
• Shelf to Stage, where musicians perform some of the old scores within the library's music collections live at FAU. 

Another one of Miller's library-related accomplishments was founding the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN), a nonprofit that provides a variety of services to connect Florida libraries.

The American Library Association awarded Miller the Gilbert Mudge Award in 2014. 

Dr. Miller was active in the Association of College and Research Libraries from 1988-2013 and served as president from 1996-1997. During his visionary leadership, the Board approved funding for the development of the ACRL Institute for Information Literacy Immersion Program.

Miller's 1997 president's program explored the vision of the learning library, a concept that still resonates today. His president's program was the first to be offered as a teleconference: ACRL members in Kansas, Massachusetts, Alabama, and Utah were able not only to listen to the program, but also to call in with their questions.

Another exciting departure from past President's Programs was the creation of "A Showcase of Ideas" that complemented the President's Program content using dramatic presentations, posters, and audiovisual displays. As a skilled facilitator, he helped the ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Section find a new name in 1994-95 using the Delphi method to work towards consensus.

He was a gifted fundraiser and under his leadership the ACRL Colleagues Committee raised more than $280,000 in support for the 1999 and 2001 ACRL Conferences. As a major donor to the ACRL 75th Anniversary Conference Scholarship campaign in 2015, he encouraged others to give, saying: "I know the value of ACRL's conferences for newer librarians, and I know how hard it can be to obtain travel funding."

A respected writer, researcher, and advocate, he published widely, including College & Research Libraries, College & Research Libraries News, and, notably, The Chronicle of Higher Education, where he tackled troubling myths about online information with verve, wit, and panache. His 1997 observation that "much of what purports to be serious information [online] is simply junk -- neither current, objective, nor trustworthy" is beyond prescient.

Miller was also responsible for establishing the annual ACRL academic library statistics program in 1998 to improve access to library data for the profession. More than twenty-one years later, the ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey remains one of Miller's most important legacies. He also represented ACRL on the National Center for Education Statistics Academic Library Survey Advisory Board for many years.  

 

Scholarship

Miller was long-time editor of The Reference Librarian

Selected Publications:

• Miller, W. (2013). Let's Take Back Scholarly Journal Publishing and End the Wasted Spending. Library Issues, 33(3), 1–4.
• Miller, William. 2013. "Libraries and Student Success." Library Issues 34 (2): 1–4.
• Miller, William. 2010. "Libraries and Consortia: What Will Libraries Pay for?" Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve 20 (4): 221–26.
• Miller, William, and Rita M. Pellen. 2009. Adapting to E-Books. London: Routledge.
• Miller, William. 2007. "Reference Services Over the Past Century: Moving from the Center to the Fringes." Reference Librarian 48 (2): 3–7.
• Miller, W. (2007). Reference, Cultural Values, and the Contact Zone. Reference Librarian, 47(2), 1–3.
• Miller, William, and Rita M. Pellen, eds. 2006. Dealing with Natural Disasters in Libraries. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Information Press.
• Miller, William, and Rita M. Pellen. 2004. Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners. New York: Haworth Information Press.
• Miller, William, and Rita M. Pellen. 2005. Libraries beyond Their Institutions : Partnerships That Work. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Information Press.
• Miller, William, and Rita M. Pellen. 2002. Cooperative Efforts of Libraries. New York: Haworth Press.
• Miller, William, and Rita M. Pellen. 2001. Joint-Use Libraries. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Information Press.
• Miller, W. and Gratch, B., Making Connections: Computerized Reference Services and People, Library Trends, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 387–401
• Miller, William, and Association of College and Research Libraries. 1989. Managing Reference Services in a Time of Transition. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries, American Library Association.
• Miller, William. 1984. "What's Wrong with Reference: Coping with Success and Failure at the Reference Desk." American Libraries 15 (5): 303–6, 321–22.
• Miller, William, and D. Stephen Rockwood. 1981. College Librarianship. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press.
• Miller, William, and D. Stephen Rockwood. 1979. "Collection Development from a College Perspective." College and Research Libraries 40 (4): 318–24.

Sources:

A Tribute to William Miller, Past President of ACRL

Obituary: Former library dean dies at 72 – UNIVERSITY PRESS

2024 Survey Information - ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics - LibGuides at ACRL

A tribute to Dr. William Miller, former Dean of the University Libraries

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Kathleen de la Peña McCook
Distinguished University Professor
School of Information
University of South Florida
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