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NEWS
| March 09, 2004
Libraries
Possible deans to visit campus
The 1st candidate for the dean
of libraries position will give a presentation Thursday; the next
two will speak March 22 and 28.
By English
Young
Contributor to The Shorthorn
The first of three candidates for the libraries dean position will
be on campus Thursday.
Philip Cohen, chair of the dean of libraries search committee, said
as technology improves, the responsibilities of the library’s
head has changed, and the committee decided the position should
be called the dean of libraries.
“The committee and provost felt changing the name was necessary
because the Central Library and the library staff is more involved
in education than ever before,” he said.
Helen Spalding, associate director of libraries at the University
of Missouri - Kansas City and former president of the Association
of College and Research Libraries, will give a 20-30 minute presentation
at 10 a.m. Thursday on the 6th floor of the Central Library.
She will be followed by John Gabaury, Dean of Libraries at the University
of Toledo on March 22 and Gerald Saxon, associate director of libraries
at UTA on the 28. Each presentation will include a question and
answer session.
The dean of libraries search committee will make a recommendation
to university President James Spaniolo and Provost Dana Dunn in
the summer.
“I’m anxious to learn about the [university],”
said Spalding, who has been an associate director at UMKC for nine
years. “I am student-structured.”
Spalding said she had previously worked with the current director
of libraries at UTA, Thomas Wilding, in the American Libraries Association.
Spalding said she would have to get to know the university before
developing an agenda.
The dean has to manage multiple libraries including the Central,
Architecture, Fine Arts and Science and Engineering libraries, Cohen
said. The committee is also looking for an innovative leader who
can integrate new technology and informative research, he added.
Ten years ago there was little funding, and the library has grown
to accommodate students’ needs, Wilding said. Now there are
over 1 million volumes and more than 20,000 serials and a large
staff in the libraries. The budget is over $10 million, he said.
The direction of information is going from print-based to electronics
with the expansion of the libraries Web site and search sources,
he said.
“We need not only a leader who can chart the future direction
of UTA libraries but a large operation,” said Cohen.
However, the new dean will not have major problems to confront,
said Wilding, who is set to retire in July.
“We’ve got a great library system, and recent good funding.
I would expect [the new candidate] to develop a vision where this
library should go next,” said Wilding.
Another reason the transition should be successful is that Wilding
director will stay to help the new dean become acquainted with various
roles in the library.
The committee is looking for someone who can integrate new technology
and informative research, said Cohen.
“It’s almost as if they’re directing two libraries
instead of one,” he said.
CORRECTIONS
This story should have said that Libraries Dean
candidate Gerald Saxon, associate director of libraries at UTA,
will have an open session March 29. Also, the name of candidate
John Gaboury, Dean of Libraries at the University of Toledo, was
misspelled.
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| Thomas
Wilding, director of libraries, plans to retire
in July but will remain here to help in the new dean’s
transition. |
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