People in the News

David Free

Elizabeth “Liz” Call, recently named head of Penn State University Libraries’ Eberly Family Special Collections Library, has also been named the Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair for Special Collections. The purpose of the chair is to enhance the university’s commitment to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania by providing a distinguished faculty member in the University Libraries the opportunity to continue and further scholarly excellence through contributions to instruction, research, and public service.

The endowed chair supports the holder’s salary, research expenses, education and travel expenses, graduate and undergraduate student support, and support services for Special Collections. Call had served in her previous role as university archivist at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) since August 2019. The Eberly Family Special Collections Library advances scholarship, cultivates public engagement, and stewards Penn State’s historical record through more than 200,000 printed volumes, more than 25 million archival records and manuscripts, and another million photographs, maps, prints, and audio-visual items.

Brendan Johnson has accepted the position of head librarian at the Penn State Abington Campus Library. He has served in this role in an interim capacity since September 2025 and transitioned to this new role on March 1, 2026. Johnson joined the Penn State University Libraries in October 2019 as the outreach and engagement librarian at the Abington Campus Library. Prior to Penn State, Johnson was the Instruction and Engagement Librarian at St. Joseph’s University. In that role, he created and serves as advisor to the library’s student advisory board, the Library Lions. He has supervised several Bednar interns to assist with outreach and engagement initiatives at Abington. Johnson also has been a co-chair of the University Libraries Instruction Leadership Team since 2024.

Laurin Davis has been named arts and architecture librarian at the Penn State University Libraries.

Mary Diaz was recently appointed acquisitions assistant librarian at the University of Central Florida Libraries.

Cassandra Florian is now processing archivist at the Penn State University Libraries’ Eberly Family Special Collections Library.

Emily Zimmerman is now a reference and instruction librarian at the Penn State University Libraries’ Robert E. Eiche Library on the Altoona campus.

People in the News listing is provided free of charge and is a great way to feature new appointments and personnel updates. Have yours featured in a future issue of C&RL News by emailing Editor-in-Chief David Free at dfree@ala.org.