Q: You started at UMass Amherst in April after eight years at Iowa State University as an Associate University Librarian. What drew you to lead the UMass Amherst Libraries, and what has surprised you most in your first months here?
I see a lot of similarities between UMass and Iowa State. Both are land grant universities, and I really value that mission with its focus on applying the knowledge we create to improve people’s lives and solve real problems in our communities, our state, and beyond. The Libraries’ work in scholarly communications and special collections were also big draws. The combination of world-class special collections, innovative work in open science, and a commitment to social justice really aligned with my values and experience.
I’m also energized by Chancellor Reyes’s vision for UMass to be more embedded and active as a partner in the communities we serve. Libraries have always been bridges between universities and their communities, and I see real opportunities to deepen those connections. Our W. E. B. Du Bois Center is a great example. Du Bois’s connection to Great Barrington provides great opportunities for community partnerships. Connecting the library’s collections and expertise with community needs and interests is what land grant institutions like UMass should be doing. What’s surprised me most in these first months is just how welcoming everyone has been and how energizing it’s been to be here. The professionalism and collaborative spirit across the organization have been remarkable. Libraries have never been just buildings and books. Libraries are vital infrastructure for learning, research, and community engagement. It has been wonderful seeing this all in action here at UMass.
Q: Research libraries are evolving rapidly, having moved from a focus on physical collections to data services, maker spaces, digital scholarship, and more. How do you think about balancing legacy services and approaches with the need for innovation and new services?
I don’t see it as either/or. New services are expressions of our core mission, not departures from it. Libraries have always been about providing access to tools and knowledge that support learning and research. A century ago, that meant books and periodicals. Today, it also means publishing support, open education, 3D printing, and data management.
Our Digital Media Lab (DML) is a great example. In the age of AI, hands-on, experiential learning is increasingly central to education, and the DML provides students with access to technology and expertise they wouldn’t otherwise have. That’s fundamentally what libraries do. As a central academic and community service, we democratize access.
At the same time, we can’t lose sight of foundational services. Students still need quiet places to study, researchers still need comprehensive collections, and preservation of unique materials still matters enormously. The challenge is doing it all well, which requires clear priorities and smart resource allocation.
Q: The Du Bois Library is an iconic building on campus, and our Special Collections hold remarkable materials. What role do you see physical spaces and unique collections playing in an increasingly digital world?
Physical spaces and unique collections are more important than ever, precisely because so much has gone digital. Students can access journal articles from their dorm rooms, but they can’t replicate the experience of working collaboratively in the Learning Commons or handling Yolande Du Bois’s scrapbooks in our Special Collections reading room. Physical experiences create connections that matter deeply: connections to materials, to history, to each other.
We’re actually planning a physical refresh of the Du Bois Library’s lower level this year, focused on improving student study spaces and technology. When I see how students fill every study table during finals, collaborate in our study rooms, and the technology woven through everything, it reinforces to me that the Libraries’ physical presence, both at Du Bois and the Science and Engineering Library, is vital.
Our special collections, archivists, and curators are amazing. The materials we hold document voices and experiences that might otherwise be lost. When graduate students work with our Black Feminist Archive or explore our labor history collections, they’re engaging with unique primary sources that spark curiosity and enable discovery. It is an honor to help steward and grow these collections, which have had a wonderful legacy of champions and leadership running from Chancellor Randolph Bromery, who acquired the Du Bois papers in 1973, to Rob Cox, former Head of SCUA, and former Library Director Jay Schafer. There is a weight of responsibility in continuing what they started. It is serious, important work, and also deeply inspiring.
Q: Open access to scholarship has been a major focus of your work. Can you explain why this matters and what it means for UMass researchers and students?
Open access is part of a broader movement toward open science, making not just research publications but also data, methodologies, and code openly available. This matters for several reasons. Much research is publicly funded, and taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay twice to read the results. Open science and the sharing of research outputs can also accelerate discovery, improve reproducibility, and advance equity. In the current climate, where we’re seeing attacks on universities and science funding, research integrity and open science practices have become even more important. Transparency and reproducibility strengthen the credibility of research and demonstrate the value of public investment in scholarship.
For UMass researchers, we’ve been renegotiating publisher agreements to bundle reading access with open access publishing rights. We also provide data management planning support, which is increasingly required by federal funders. These agencies don’t just want publications to be open; they expect data to be shared in appropriate repositories where other researchers can access and build upon it. Our Data Services team helps researchers think about how to organize data and where to deposit it. At a time when science itself is being questioned, open and transparent research practices matter more than ever.
Q: Student success is central to UMass’s mission. How do the Libraries contribute to helping students thrive, and where do you see opportunities to deepen that impact?
We support student success in countless ways. We provide spaces where students study, collaborate, and access technology. We teach information literacy and even AI literacy skills they’ll use throughout their lives. We connect them with research resources and expert help. We create opportunities for experiential learning through our collections and our Digital Media Lab. And we employ more than a hundred student workers across our operations. All of this supports academic achievement and the broader learning that happens in college.
The opportunity I see is being even more intentional about how we serve students. That means continuing to evolve our spaces to meet changing needs. It means ensuring our services are accessible to all students, regardless of their background or preparation. It means partnering with faculty to integrate library instruction into the curriculum. And it means thinking creatively about how we can support not just traditional academic work, but also the hands-on, collaborative, creative work that’s becoming central to education and work.
Q: When you’re not thinking about libraries, what are you reading or doing? Any hobbies or activities that help you recharge?
I read a lot. I finished two of Peter Heller’s books recently. Kook is about learning to surf in middle age, which was funny and unexpectedly moving. And his post-apocalyptic story, The Dog Stars, stayed with me long after I finished it. The best nonfiction I read in the past year was The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen. I don’t know why, but I put off reading it for years. But I’m glad I did. It landed differently being older and having my biggest outdoor adventures behind me. It may be the best book about nature and living well that I have ever read.
Outside of reading, I spend a lot of time hiking, mountain biking, and with my family. My younger son is in ninth grade at Amherst High School, and my older son is a freshman at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. As I write this, he is preparing to return for the spring semester. The resistance and standoff with ICE continues to escalate there and is deeply unsettling. I said to a friend recently that it doesn’t seem too much to ask that our students are safe as they head off to school. But I digress. Hiking and being outside is by far my favorite way to recharge. If I had the time, I could hike to the Summit House every evening to watch the sun set over the valley.
