Carla J. Stoffle, a leader of library services at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside from 1972-1985, changed the role and face of academic libraries through her role in the development of the concept of a Teaching Library. Under her visionary leadership, the role of the academic library as an adjunct collection of scholarly resources was supplanted by a recognition of the
academic library as an integral part of the teaching and learning process. Her leadership led universities, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to adopt coursework in information literacy as a required element of the undergraduate curriculum. This focus on the library role in teaching and learning also led to the development of a new vision of libraries as information commons as illustrated by the Business and Chemistry Information Commons at UW Madison and the Learning Commons at Carroll University. When higher education transitioned to online learning, the integration of information literacy was extended to embedded librarian programs such as those at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, the Milwaukee Area Technical Colleges, Chippewa Valley Technical College, and the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The development of these programs was enabled not only by Carla’s vision in articulating the teaching role of libraries but also by her development of the first directory of library instruction programs which supported networking among Wisconsin academic libraries.
Carla’s service at the UW-Parkside began in 1972 when she was hired as a reference librarian in charge of library instruction. Within a year, she was promoted to Head of the Public Services Division, and three years later her visionary leadership was once again recognized as she became Assistant Director. That leadership and articulation of the teaching role of libraries was reflected in the transition in the name and purpose of the UW-Parkside Library to the UW-Parkside Library/Learning Center. During this time, Carla’s work in information literacy was recognized by a UW-System Teaching Improvement Grant to enhance the teaching of history. Carla’s vision in articulating the critical role of libraries to teaching and learning was next recognized by the
UW-Parkside when Carla was named Executive Assistant to the Chancellor and then Assistant Chancellor for Educational Services before she left Wisconsin to serve as the Deputy Director for the University of Michigan Libraries. Since 1991 Carla has been a Professor in the School of
Information at the University of Arizona and also served concurrently as Dean of Libraries from 1991-2013.
Carla’s service as a library educator is also reflected by her 22 years as an instructor for the Senior Fellows Leadership Program at the University of California, Los Angeles as well as by over 100 conference and workshops papers, presentations, and workshops.
Carla recognized and recruited talented librarians to Wisconsin including Hannelore Rader and Tom Kirk. Rader, later Dean of Libraries at the University of Louisville, extended U.W. Parkside’s national reputation as a teaching library and modeled strong service to the profession as the 1986-1987 President of the Association of Research Libraries. Kirk was Director of Libraries at Berea and Earlham Colleges and the 2004 Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. But Carla did not just recognize talented leaders, she also mentored beginning
librarians, including one individual who told her, “Before you came to Parkside, I had a job. After you came, I had a profession”.
Carla’s leadership in the development of academic library services extends beyond her role in developing the concept of the teaching library, integrating that concept at the highest levels of university administration, and as an educator and mentor for students in the School of Information. Carla has also been a prolific author in library services, beginning in 1973 and continuing to her latest publication in 2020. In addition to her extensive writings on information literacy, Carla has written on creating campus partnerships, on funding and restructuring campus libraries, and on envisioning the future of academic libraries. Her 1996 article, “Choosing Our Futures” in College and Research Libraries (vol. 57, 1996) was named one of seven “landmark”
articles published by ACRL over the span of almost 60 years.
Carla’s leadership in transforming the role of academic libraries has been recognized by the American Library Association numerous times. In 2018, she was the recipient of the Melvin Dewey Award recognized her extraordinary leadership in library management and instruction. She was honored by the Joseph Lippincott Award in 2012 for her outstanding service to librarianship and to library associations. She is also the 2003 recipient of the ALA Equality
Award, the 2002 Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award, the 1992 Academic Librarian of the Year Award, and the 1991 Miriam Dudley Bibliographic Instruction Librarian of the Year Award.