Dr. Richard Chapin 1925-2009

MLC Co-Founder Dick Chapin dies at 84

 Dr. Richard Chapin, Director emeritus of the Michigan State University Libraries, passed away on July 30, 2009, at the age of 84.

Dr. Chapin was an active member of the library community, serving as officer and board member of MLC, MLA, ALA, ARL, and the Ohio Library Consortium.  As co-founder and president of MLC in the 1970s, he was instrumental in updating libraries in Michigan and beyond as technology began to influence the profession. He served as a consultant to libraries in this country and abroad, including Vietnam, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates.

In his tribute to Dr. Chapin on MLC's blog, Randy Dykhuis wrote, "Dick was a visionary and a leader for all Michigan librarians. It’s not an overstatement to say that without Dick’s guiding hand at MSU all those years, Michigan libraries wouldn’t have the rich array of resources available to them through MeL and other statewide programs. He wasn’t interested in just building up MSU but he had a keen interest in working with other libraries to move the state forward. In 1974, Dick, along with Vern Pings, then dean of libraries at Wayne State University, were primarily responsible for founding the Michigan Library Consortium"

For further reading about Dr. Chapin's accomplishments, see his obituary and 8/2/09 Lansing State Journal article, "Chapin helped shape MSU library."

[03 Aug 2009]