Werner Lind’s Librarian Legacy
Photo courtesy of bluefield.edu.
This past August made 32 years that Werner Lind has worked at Bluefield University.
Lind is the co-director of library services for BU’s Easley Library and has been passionate about libraries from a very young age.
”I fell in love with libraries as a six-year-old child,” Lind said, “when I got my first library card.”
When asked about the importance of reading, Lind replied, “[It is] really, really important! [Reading] opens your mind to the world [and] allows you to be part of the human conversation…”
”My favorite book, far and away, is the Bible,” admits Lind. “It’s the touchstone of truth on which everything else depends. Next to fostering a deep relationship with Christ, fostering a genuine love of reading would be the best thing BU could give to its graduates.”
Although Lind has been working at BU for more than three decades, he was born in Minneapolis and raised in Iowa. Lind began his career in Christian higher education as a professor of religion. He then began working in the libraries at the different institutions he taught.
”Going to library school for my MLS (Master of Library Science) was a natural evolution to make myself more useful in a Christian college setting,” Lind said.
Lind received his Bachelor of Arts in History at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. He went on to receive his Master of Arts in Religion (with a concentration in Biblical Studies) at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and acquired his Master of Library Science from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The library director of Bluefield called Lind in 1992 to inform him about an open library position at (what was then called) Bluefield College. Lind applied, got the job, and has been at BU ever since.
The tasks that most people envision a librarian doing, such as helping students find a book and organizing book titles on a shelf, is only a small glimpse into Lind’s life as a librarian. Lind also helps discard books, assigns call numbers to books, and handles inter-library loans and print periodical subscriptions.
”I’m also the one who does preparation of various reports for the administration and the trustees,” Lind said.
Outside of work, Lind enjoys reading a variety of books and staying up to date on GoodReads, a social network of book reviews and articles.
“Spending time with my family is a joy,” Lind added. In fact, he and his wife spend their free time playing the board game Azul together.
“I’m also the adult Sunday school teacher at our church,” Lind said. “I enjoy that and find it fulfilling.”
Lind continues to serve the Bluefield University community with a passion for the written word and a willingness to help anyone who walks into Easley Library.