Messages From the Dean
Dupré Digest, Library Newsletter
Summer 2023, Issue 1
As we slog through the dog days of summer, our library faculty and staff are, at once, reviewing the past academic year and preparing for the new one. Summer is an intense time of the year for academic libraries as we take advantage of the down time for classes and activities to focus on our projects and planning.
Among the many things that we have learned over the past year is that we need to become more visible to our users. To address this issue, our library faculty have formed a task force to develop ways that we can better interact with faculty and students in and to convey to them the things that we do. In the near future, faculty, staff and students will begin to see that the library provides much more than just books on shelves.
We are committed to working with faculty and students to create a futuristic library that will support the kind of research done at a Carnegie R1 university. Data services, scholarly publishing services, technologies and expertise to use information in sophisticated ways, and pedagogical support for truly engaged teaching and learning are some of the areas that we intend to develop and fortify. Our work with faculty and students will help inform us on how we realize these aspirations.
As part of our vision of a futuristic library, we see our building as a nexus for social and intellectual encounters. Renewed spaces with comfortable seating, tools for study and collaboration, and an environment rich in technologies and spaces that inspire creativity and ingenuity are central to the library. We see the library becoming an even more essential resource for the work of faculty and students.
Finally, as the University rolls out its new strategic plan, we will develop a library plan that will support the University’s goals. The library’s role in many of the University’s strategic goals is significant, and we intend to advocate for the resources we need to build the collections and services that will best enhance the scholarly endeavors of our users.
—Brian Doherty, Dean of University Libraries