Librarian Retires After 43 Years at Ship

The following article is about Berk Laite who has been a Ship Librarian for 43 years.

by Signe Kelker

       At about the time that the ARPANET (an ancestor of the modern internet) was coming to life, Berk Laite, a freshly-minted graduate of Pitt’s Library and Information Science program, returned to Shippensburg, his alma mater, as a General Reference Librarian. The “new” library was under construction and Berk knew that when it was finished (1969) he would have responsibility for a “cutting edge” technology called DAIRS (Dial Access Information Retrieval System). Comprised of a bank of reel-to-reel tape decks, DAIRS allowed students to access lectures, commercial video and audio and instruction exercises, such as “How to Use the Readers’ Guide”(one of many instruction tapes done by Berk in this period), by dialing an assigned number for a particular program from individual work carrels. Berk said that it came on the scene at an unfortunate juncture in that it was about to be overtaken by cassette and video tape technology.

After the use and utility of the system declined and it was eventually removed, Berk donned the next of several other hats that he wore over the years. He was designated Music Librarian and developed the LP collection (an ancestor of the modern mp3 file) which endeavored to have folk music from every country in the world, as complete a library as possible of the classical and operatic genres, and representative  musical theater and spoken word records.  At its height the collection contained several thousand albums (many of which still reside on the lower level of the library). After this, he became head of the Curriculum Laboratory, later renamed the Media/Curricular Center (M/CC).

In more recent years, as the Library has become more student-centered and less book-centered, he has been a mainstay in our library instruction program. He was elected Department Chair in the early eighties, which position he has held since then with only a brief hiatus in the late eighties. He has been a major player and leader in consortial activities within the PASSHE and beyond via ACLCP (Associated College Libraries of Central Pennsylvania) which he was instrumental in founding. He was also elected as President of ACLCP for a term. This has naturally led to his focus in recent years on library outreach activities both on- and off-campus. 

Berk is the originator of the Reference Desk’s motto - “Ask Us Anything.”  Berk has many great “Ask Us Anything” stories.  He told me that out of the thousands of questions he has answered, one stands out in his memory as representative of the need for librarians on campus.

This story occurred as he was walking through the Reference Area. “I was approached by a couple of young men who politely said, ‘Excuse me, Sir, can we ask you a question?’ I answered, ‘Sure.’”  They showed him several photocopies they had made from reference books [an ancestor of e-books].  They explained that they were doing a presentation on the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address and weren’t sure which came first! Berk continues, “I explained that they were from different centuries (18^th and 19^th) and different wars, etc. One of them, puzzled, asked ‘Are you sure, Sir?’ and pointed to the number “1756”  in the upper corner of the photocopy about the Gettysburg Address. The students thought that the page number - 1756 -  was the year that Lincoln gave his famous speech.” Berk concluded, “Students are pretty much the same in any era!”

In 2005, Berk became the first librarian in the PASSHE to be promoted to full professor without a Ph.D. or its equivalent. (Only this year has a second librarian in the system achieved this distinction.) When asked if he was glad he had stayed at Ship all these years, he said that he was.  He said that the late eighties were a bit boring but the nineties were fun because of the introduction of the Internet to the library. The possibilities that it presented rekindled his enthusiasm as he explored how we could best use it to continue to improve services to students.

His immediate retirement plans are an extended vacation in the South including a two-month stay in a condo on St. Simon’s Island, GA, followed by the month of March in Ft. Myers Beach, FL. After that, he will “explore possibilities,” perhaps finding an outlet for his planning and organizational abilities which he so successfully used during his years at Ship.

Berk exits the library after four-plus decades, having amassed an outstanding record of contributions to the library. He takes with him a large chunk of institutional memory, the likes of which we are not likely to see again, any time soon. Even more, however, he also takes with him the love and gratitude of his grateful colleagues.  As a final academic send-off, Berk will be carrying the mace and will be honored at both December graduation ceremonies.

Berk we wish you well!