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George R. Parks, 70, Former Head of USM Library in Portland

Posted on: Thursday, 20 October 2005, 18:00 CDT

By Melanie Creamer news assistant

George R. Parks, a retired librarian and director of what is now the Albert Brenner Glickman Family Library at the University of Southern Maine, died on Monday. He was 70.

Library architecture was an important part of Mr. Parks' career. He came to USM in 1985 as library director and oversaw the construction of USM's seven-story library at Forest Avenue and Bedford Street.

The library, which opened in 1993, featured exterior paneling with energy-efficient systems and lights with interior motion sensors. A 1991 news story described the library as a rich architectural statement.

Some community members expressed concerns about the materials used on the exterior and the color scheme of red, blue-green and white panels, but Mr. Parks' wife, Carol, said her husband took the criticism in stride.

"There was a great hoopla over the colors. . . . This was a public university on a shoestring budget and something came out in the end that he was proud of. He found it to be a wonderful challenge.

"He enjoyed his years there more than any other job he had. He thought his staff was fantastic."

Mr. Parks helped the library advance in the transition from print- based information systems to computer-based systems, said Sheila Johnson, the research and instruction librarian at USM.

"He was a consummate professional," she said. "He was a great guy."

Before working at USM, Mr. Parks was dean of libraries at the University of Rhode Island and served as director of the Colgate University Library from 1980 to 1985.

His wife said he oversaw additions or new library facilities at each job.

Mr. Parks married his wife of 46 years, the former Carol Richmond, in 1959. She said they met while taking a class together in college. He proposed to her on their second date, she said.

"The professor had a wonderful, dry sense of humor that sort of went by everyone in class except for me and George. We sort of connected silently for a large part of that semester," his wife said.

"He was a wonderful lifelong companion and friend. He was a wonderful dad and was devoted to his children. He was there for them and with them. He was a co-parent in a very real way."

Mr. Parks was described by his wife as friendly, kind, compassionate and loving. She said he was whimsical, loved gardening and had a good sense of humor.

"There was no facade with him. He was who he was. He loved the outdoors, bird watching, and he loved the camp," she said, referring to the family camp on Hancock Pond in Denmark.

Source: Portland Press Herald

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