Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver has appointed a committee to conduct a national search for the next university librarian. Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Vanessa Beasley and School of Medicine Basic Sciences Dean Lawrence Marnett will co-chair the committee, which includes faculty members and university leadership.
“Our libraries play a vital role in our collective commitment to advancing the highest-caliber research and scholarship at our university,” Raver said. “I’m grateful to Vice Provost Beasley and Dean Marnett for directing the search to find our next university librarian, who will lead us toward next-level impact in providing innovative and accessible resources for the entire community.”
The university librarian oversees collection acquisition and development; budgeting; staff; fundraising; the maintenance and formation of state, regional, national and international partnerships; library services; physical space; information technology adoption and development; website development; and strategic planning.
The ideal candidate is a collegial, visionary, experienced leader with the proven ability to manage, develop and forward the strategic vision of an academic research library while successfully implementing operational details and managing staff.
“The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries are the heart of the Vanderbilt campus, our intellectual community and our commitment to academic excellence,” Beasley said. “This committee is charged with searching for the libraries’ next leader, who not only will guide our library system with an unwavering commitment to advancing scholarship and learning, but also will create new and innovative pathways to provide research support to members of the Vanderbilt community.”
Members of the search committee are:
- Vanessa Beasley (co-chair), vice provost for academic affairs, dean of residential faculty and associate professor of communication studies;
- Lawrence Marnett (co-chair), dean of basic sciences, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; and professor of biochemistry, chemistry and pharmacology;
- Adam Anderson, professor of biomedical engineering, professor of radiology and radiological sciences, and chair, Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Policies and Services;
- Joy Calico, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair, professor of musicology and professor of German studies;
- André Christie-Mizell, vice provost and dean of the Graduate School and Centennial Professor of Sociology;
- Xiu Cravens, associate dean for international students and affairs and associate professor of the practice, Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations;
- Sarah Igo, Andrew Jackson Professor of History and dean of strategic initiatives, College of Arts and Science;
- Kevin Stack, Lee S. and Charles A. Speir Chair in Law and director of graduate studies, Vanderbilt Law School; and
- Lisa Thompson, associate professor and Cornelius Vanderbilt Chancellor Faculty Fellow of Black Homiletics and Liturgics.
The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries include six subject libraries, the Central Library, the Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery and Special Collections and University Archives.