Craig Thornhill is the Acquisitions Assistant in the Zimmerman Law Library, but he does more than help purchase new materials. He is on a mission to learn and to give.

As Acquisitions Assistant, Mr. Thornhill helps obtain materials for the library, processes new materials in the database, processes periodicals to be bound for permanent shelving, and maintains and reviews database holdings.

A self-described “bookworm,” he went to school just a few blocks from the Philadelphia Public Library and immersed himself in books while waiting for his mother to get off work. “I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and truth,” he said. A “voracious reader” who calls knowledge a “lifelong journey,” his favorite authors include Deepak Chopra, William Styron, and Alex Haley.

The library seemed like a natural place to work, and he began working at the Thomas Jefferson University Medical Library before moving to Ohio. Before coming to the University of Dayton ten years ago, first at Roesch Library and now at the law library, Mr. Thornhill worked at the Wilberforce University library and at Sinclair Community College’s library. He also received his paralegal degree from the college. Mr. Thornhill has worked at the Zimmerman Law Library since Keller Hall opened in 1997, and he is currently working on a degree in criminal justice.

When not spending time in a library, at the School of Law or his own at home, he enjoys spending time with his two children, biking, playing tennis, and staying active in his church. A servant leader in the community for more than a decade, Mr. Thornhill helps coordinate St. Agnes Church’s soup kitchen, sits on a board to help bridge the digital divide and sets up computer labs in churches and recreational centers, is active in a Dayton youth soccer league, and acts as a youth counselor. “You have to give something back,” he said. “The more I can bring to the table, the more effective I’ll be."