June 11, 2001

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Awards Grant ToWKU-Glasgow Library

Bowling Green, Ky. - R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company awarded a $50,000 corporate grant to Western Kentucky University to create the R.R. Donnelley Glasgow Campus Periodical Endowment Fund.

The gift will provide permanent support for the periodical collection at the Glasgow Campus Library. It also includes a one-time commitment to purchase computer equipment, rotating magazine displays and a collection of academic and popular leisure magazines for the new facility.

The Glasgow campus of Western Kentucky University was established in 1988 and today enrolls an average of 1,200 students per semester. Students can complete a variety of associate and bachelor degree programs at the Glasgow campus, and a number of graduate courses are also offered. Construction on a new Regional Postsecondary Educational Center in Glasgow, which will house both the WKU Glasgow Campus and programs under the authority of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, is projected to be completed this fall.

The Glasgow Campus Library was opened at the current Liberty Street campus in 1990 with the help of a large donation from the Business and Professional Women's Club of Glasgow and serves as a general reference library with primary emphasis on serving undergraduate needs. The current collection includes standard reference sources, current reading materials such as local, regional and national newspapers, and a collection of general interest magazines. The library is equipped with state of the art electronic reference sources as well.

Over the last 10 years the Glasgow Campus Library has enjoyed support from local business and industry, including R.R. Donnelley, which operates a printing facility in Glasgow.

"The generosity of R.R. Donnelley will permit our Glasgow Campus Library to greatly expand access to both academic and leisure periodicals," said Brian Coutts, head of WKU Library Public Services. "The R.R. Donnelley gift will also allow us to offer a unique opportunity for students to have flexible connections to electronic databases though laptop computers, which is a service we are not yet able to provide to students on the main campus."

Dr. Mike Binder, dean of the WKU Libraries and Kentucky Museum, said, "We are grateful that R.R. Donnelley places such a high value on the WKU Glasgow Campus Library, and we look forward to providing students with a wide variety of resources in the R.R. Donnelley Periodical Collection when the new facility opens in August."

Marlin Harker, vice president and division director of R.R. Donnelley's Glasgow facility, said: "R.R. Donnelley is pleased to enhance our long partnership with Western Kentucky University by providing funds for the Glasgow Campus Library. The Regional Postsecondary Education Center will enhance the learning and development opportunities for our employees, their families and the entire Glasgow community. We are committed to giving back to the communities where our employees live and work."

R.R. Donnelley, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading printer, communications services and logistics company. Its Glasgow plant, established in 1970, has more than 1,200 employees engaged in the production of special-interest magazines.

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