In addition, staff members were encouraged to contribute to the College's general curriculum by teaching courses as adjunct faculty if they wished to and were qualified to do so. By the time Duffett left Hiram in 1992, it was clear that Hiram's library needed rehousing and full automation of its processes. Under Director Patricia Lyons Basu, the Library accomplished both challenges simultaneously in 1995, when Hiram's new library was dedicated and the staff plunged into the complexities of automation with its new Innovative Interfaces system. In 1997, Hiram College joined OhioLINK, the consortium of Ohio institutions that has created a shared collection equal to those of a top ten research institution. Current Director David Everett oversees a library of nearly 200,000 volumes with 885 journal subscriptions, access to 3000 more journals through OhioLINK's Electronic Journal Center, and more than 100 databases, many of them containing full-text journal articles.
Students can even access the on-line catalog from their dorm rooms.
Everett is enthusiastically leading the staff deeper into the increasingly electronic world of librarianship. If all this sounds far removed from the cozy library that alumni remember, nothing could be further from the truth. The new building has many comfortable spaces for study or pleasure reading, and the Library sponsors many interesting programs in its beautiful Pritchard Room, such as the monthly Library Forums and Friends of the Library speakers and events, as well as the Book Sale every fall. The staff provides cookies and hot chocolate for students during finals week, and staff members are always available to assist students with their research or just to chat. Judging from the history of the Hiram College Library over the past 100 years, it will be ready to face whatever challenges the next century may bring.