OCLC is the world's largest library cooperative, a research and service organization serving more than 60,000 libraries in 112 countries. OCLC and its member libraries created and maintain WorldCat, the world's largest online resource for finding information in libraries.

Alford was elected to the OCLC board of trustees in May 2002 by the OCLC members council, the 71-delegate discussion forum and communications link between member libraries, regional networks and other partners, and OCLC management.

Alford was members council president for the 2000/2001 session, and served as a delegate from SOLINET, the Southeastern Library Network.

"OCLC has been built by the intellectual effort and hard work of thousands of librarians over four decades, and I am deeply honored to be chosen by my fellow trustees to chair the board of this remarkable collaborative," Alford said. "I look forward to working with the creative and dedicated staff and management of OCLC, the trustees and fellow librarians from around the world as OCLC moves in new directions and develops new strategies to further access to the world's information."

Alford joined the Temple Libraries in February 2005 and has responsibility for a federated library system that includes the five libraries of the Paley library system, a newly constructed two-million-volume remote storage facility, the three libraries that comprise the Health Sciences Libraries and the Law Library. Prior to joining the Temple Libraries, he worked in a variety of positions in the libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill over a 30-year period.

Alford holds a bachelor of arts and a master's degree in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science in May 2005.

The 15-member OCLC board of trustees comprises the president of OCLC and eight trustees elected by the board itself, five of whom come from fields outside librarianship. The other six board members are elected by the OCLC members council.

About OCLC

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC is a nonprofit library service and research organization that has provided computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, eContent, preservation, library management and Web services to 60,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories. OCLC and its member libraries worldwide have created and maintain WorldCat, the world's richest online resource for finding library materials. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.