The Academic Office is pleased to announce that David Purdy will be joining the team at Crandall University as the new University Librarian following the retirement of Ivan Douthwright. David will take up his new position at Crandall this summer.

David has a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Arts in English Literature from Acadia University. He has a vast array of library knowledge, strengthened by six years of academic library experience, three of which took place at Christian academic libraries.

In terms of teaching and research, David has acted as a Teaching Assistant at the University of King’s College in Halifax, a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant at Acadia University in Wolfville, and a Career Experience Program Assistant at Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland. Interestingly, both David’s undergraduate and graduate theses were on the subject of well-known author C.S. Lewis. “I presented a lecture about Lewis’s novel The Screwtape Letters at the Canadian C.S. Lewis Symposium in 2013, and was then invited to contribute a chapter to a book about C.S. Lewis, which was published two years later.” David has also been published by two library journals, once on the subject of Wikipedia and once on the subject of journal usage at Canadian universities.

As for his upcoming adventure at Crandall, David is excited: “I am delighted to be joining the Crandall University community and am looking forward to serving its members. I am particularly excited to build on the history of the George A. Rawlyk Library and to lead it into the future.” He shared, “God has given me a great passion for academia and information access, and I will rely on His guidance and grace as I grow the library’s resources and services to meet the research needs of Crandall’s students and faculty.”

Similarly, Crandall is equally as excited to welcome David to the team: “The 30 years of Library service given by Ivan Douthwright is very significant for the University.” expressed Dr. Jon Ohlhauser, Provost and VP for Academic Affairs. “As Ivan retires, we knew we had to find the right person to be able to extend and expand on the excellent Library services established by Ivan. We are delighted to believe we have found the right person in David Purdy.”