William Andrew Moffett

William Moffett was born on January 25, 1933, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was traditionally educated in Mississippi and finished his schooling at the Chamberlain-Hunt Academy. From there, Moffett went on to pursue a collegiate academic path in history, earning an A.B. degree from Davidson College as well as going on to pursue higher education at Duke University where he earned a M.A. degree and Ph.D. degree in English history. Between 1956 and 1974 Moffett was an educator at various institutions, including Alma College and Charlotte Country Day School. While working as an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston William became involved in several roles at the campus' library that influenced him to go and earn a Master of Library Science from Simmons College in Boston. Moffett eventually moved on from a lack of teaching opportunities to a newly burgeoning field in libraries, a field which would define the remainder of his career. He first worked as an academic librarian at the Crumb Library of the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Potsdam. Here he combined his past experiences in education with librarianship, incorporating library instruction at the university. ==Oberlin College and Library Security==

Eventually, Moffett moved to a new post at Oberlin College where from 1979 to 1990 he occupied the position of Azariah Smith Root Director of Libraries. During this time, he embraced the emergence of technology, being the first library to install the online catalog of the Online Computer Library Center. He worked to establish the Rare Books and Manuscripts (RBMS) division of the ACRL which was a pioneering organization in library security, helping to connect institutions and warn of potential and reoccurring thefts. Moffett shared the credit for the book thief's capture, publishing an editorial and giving detailed recognition to his peers who had helped in the capture in his article "Credit due and overdue". ==Huntington Library and the Dead Sea Scrolls==

After working for over a decade at Oberlin College, Moffett moved on to become the Director of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, in 1990. On September 22, 1991, Moffett's name was splashed across newspaper headlines yet again when he announced the Huntington Library's decision to open access to over 3000 photographic negatives of the Dead Sea Scrolls for scholarly use. Moffett believed that allowing access to the study of such a historic importance was vital and what libraries were all about. Moffett's modest response to being at the head of such a controversial decision was: "I maintain that what we're doing is no more than other librarians are doing day – collecting, preserving, and providing access". ==Death and legacy==

Moffett died on February 20, 1995, from cancer of the bladder. The Association of College and Research Libraries passed a memorial resolution honoring William Moffett upon his death and the auditorium at the Oberlin College Library was named in his honor. Many book funds have been established in his name, including Davidson College, Duke University and the Huntington Library, continuing to honor his legacy and promote Moffett's lifelong passion of education and librarianship. ==References==