Notes & Quotes

 

Central Campus Library Named in Honor of

Dr. LeRoy Brendlinger

by Mary Lou Neighbour, AV Librarian

 

On November 15, 2004 , Montgomery County Community College celebrated the naming of the Brendlinger Library, in honor of the founding president of the College, Dr. LeRoy Brendlinger. During the ceremony, our current president, Dr. Karen Stout, congratulated Dr. Brendlinger on his many contributions to the College, and four generations of the Brendlinger family were present to enjoy the tribute to Dr. B, as he is affectionately known. Also attending were Montgomery County Commissioner, James Matthews; Charles Kahn, founding and current member of the Board of Trustees; a number of original College staff members; Library Director, Diane Lovelace; a number of Library staff; and other invited guests. In the book, Ah Montco, What a Place!: an Oral History of Montgomery County Community College (1991) compiled by English Professor, Charlie Reilly, Dr. Brendlinger is quoted, giving his vision of the place the Library should hold on the, then, new campus in Blue Bell. He said:

Dr. Brendlinger and Dr. Stout

"One of our foremost objectives was to make the Library the focal point of the campus. We wanted to have a campus in which, when a student entered what was designed as the students' building, College Hall, he or she would be drawn into the library. We knew a large portion of the students who would come to this campus would not be coming from academic backgrounds. We knew a large portion of them would be hoping to make a fresh start, to make what may well be the most important academic investment of his or her life, and we wanted that student to be irresistibly drawn to the Learning Resources Center."

Four generations of the Brendlinger family.

Dr. Brendlinger is still a fixture in the life of the College campus. The Library houses the Brendlinger Archives, and Dr. B can often be found in the Library working on the papers and records. It is most appropriate, that in the College's 40 th year, Dr. B's contribution and vision is celebrated by naming the Brendlinger Library in his honor.

Dr. Brendlinger, Dr. Stout, Library Director, Diane Lovelace, and the Library staff