Historical antecedents as well as contemporary social and cultural factors have impeded the Black student's quest for excellence in education. As a result, the historically Black colleges have, since their inception, existed to provide a quality education to those who have been excluded from the educational mainstream. Now that the focus of academia is on recapturing excellence in education while dealing with budgetary restraints, Black academic libraries, which have a long history of "making do and pursuing excellence," may serve as role models. Jackson State University's Henry T. Sampson Memorial Library, for example, promotes excellence with the following "action-oriented programs": bibliographic instruction; the Great Books Reading Forum; Project LAMP; Wonderful Wednesday; the FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education) Pilot Project; and the Science Technology Students Workshop. The Sampson Library also pursues an active collection development program; conducts outreach programs such as "The Afro-American Heritage--Viewing the Past from Mississippi,""Gowdy--Cherishing the Heritage," library programs for Upward Bound students, and the Pre-Science Major Enhancement Program; and strives to extend special services to a broad segment of students. In the future, the Sampson Library hopes to expand its teaching role in areas such as freshman orientation, the honors program, and continuing education. (KM)