Appointments

Terry Birdwhistell has been selected as the next dean of the University of Kentucky (UK) Libraries and codirector of the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center. Birdwhistell has been credited with building programs and centers, obtaining significant archival collections, as well as actively engaging in scholarly research, publications, and media productions during his 35 years of service in the UK Libraries administration. Birdwhistell, has been serving as interim dean since January. Birdwhistell assumed the position of director of UK’s Oral History Program in 1974 and is credited with building the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History into one of the nation’s top programs during his 31 years of service guiding the program. In the 1980s, Birdwhistell began taking on several other leadership positions in UK Libraries, including serving as university archivist from 1985 to 2001. He has also served as executive secretary of the UK Libraries National Advisory Board since 2007. In 2001, Birdwhistell was named codirector of the Ford Center, and he was named associate dean for Special Collections and Digital Programs (SCDP) in 2005. Under his leadership, he brought together a new organizational structure that included Preservation and Digital Programs, Archives, the Special Collections Library, the Nunn Center, and the Ford Center. Birdwhistell is a member of the UK College of Education Hall of Fame and in 2007 was named one of the “25 Movers and Shapers at UK during the Past Twenty-five Years.” Birdwhistell also serves as cogeneral editor of the Kentucky Remembered: An Oral History Series, published by the University Press of Kentucky.

Terry Birdwhistell

Sohair Wastawy has been named dean of university libraries at Illinois State University. Prior to her current position, Wastawy served as the chief librarian at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina/Library of Alexandria in Egypt for the past six years. Prior to that she was dean/director of libraries at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Wastawy is a preservation and access advisory board member of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and serves on the professional development standing committee. She is a board member for the International Association of Technical University Libraries and executive committee member of the European Commission Network of Excellence, RAMSES2. Wastawy has been honored with the IFLA’s High-Level Colloquium on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning medallion and with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Egyptian Library Association.

Pablo Alvarez is the new outreach librarian and curator at the University of Michigan Special Collections Library

Sara Bahnmaier is now head of the electronic acquisitions and licensing unit at the University of Michigan.

Laura Bang is now the curatorial assistant in the special and digital collections at Villanova University’s Falvey Memorial Library.

John Blythe is now special projects and outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Kathy Bradshaw has been appointed human resources librarian at University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

Kristyna Carroll has joined Falvey Memorial Library at Villanova University as a social sciences and business librarian.

Maggie Dickson has been named digital projects librarian for the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Keith Gorman has joined University of North Carolina-Greensboro as assistant head of special collections and university archives, and digital collections coordinator.

Deana Greenfield has joined the library faculty at National-Louis University in Chicago, specializing in archives/special collections and instruction.

David Gwynn has been named digital projects coordinator at University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

Merinda Kaye Hensley has been appointed instructional services and reference librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library.

Katy Kelly has been appointed communications and outreach librarian at the University of Dayton.

Kelley McGrath has been appointed metadata management librarian at the University of Oregon Libraries.

Jessica Minihan has accepted the position of coordinator of continuing resources at Georgia Southern University.

Rebecca “Missy” Murphey has joined the reference services department faculty at the University of Central Florida Libraries.

Mary Page is now associate director for collections and technical services at the University of Central Florida.

Julia Stringfellow has joined Boise State University’s Albertsons Library as a librarian/archivist.

Ginger H. Williams has joined the faculty of Valdosta State University Odum Library, as instructor of library science and reference librarian.

Melanie E. Wood has joined the staff of the Mary Livermore Library of the University of North Carolina-Pembroke as instructional services/reference librarian.

Retirements

J. Donald Craig, dean of the James E. Walker Library at Middle Tennessee State University, has retired after 38 years of service with the university. Craig joined the Walker Library in 1972 as assistant librarian after having served as assistant to the director of the Joint University Libraries in Nashville. He became university librarian in 1976, followed by his appointment as dean in 1994. He oversaw the growth of the library collection from 200,000 books to more than 1 million print and electronic items and was heavily involved in bringing the library into an active instructional role in the university. Craig shared his expertise through research contributions, consulting, workshops, and presentations. He had a long history of professional involvement from cofounding the Mid-State Library Association in Tennessee. He served as president of the Tennessee Library Association and helped found the Nashville Area Library Alliance, a consortium dedicated to enriching the learning experience in the middle Tennessee region. Craig was an early adopter of technology in libraries and has been an advocate for collaborative and consortial relationships with other academic libraries for many years. He shepherded the planning and construction of the award-winning Walker Library facility at Middle Tennessee State University which opened in 1999.

Beth Schobernd, associate for technical services and facilities, is retiring after a 22-year career with Illinois State University. She joined the staff as a preservation librarian in 1988 and rose to her current position in 1999. Schobernd has given her time and services to many state and national professional organizations, including the Illinois Association for College and Research Libraries, the Illinois Library Association, and the ALA Preservation Administration Interest Group (ALCTS PARS-Preservation and Reformatting Section).

Merrily Taylor has retired from Washington and Lee (W&L) University, where she has worked since 2004. Taylor was responsible for the overall administration of Leyburn Library and the Telford Sciences Library. One of her many accomplishments was spearheading the first renovation of Leyburn Library since its opening in 1979. Taylor also was involved in the creation of W&L’s Friends of the Library, which strengthens the library’s collections and services, promotes greater awareness of the library’s needs and resources, encourages contributions to the library, fosters closer community and library relations and stimulates the intellectual life of the community. She has authored more than 15 publications. Taylor had previously worked at Brown University, where she was the university librarian for 22 years.

Deaths

Karin Durán, 61, reference librarian and bibliographer at California State University, Northridge’s Oviatt Library for 38 years died June 11, 2010. She was reference librarian and was also responsible for the library’s Teacher Curriculum Center. Additionally, Durán was the library’s interim associate dean in 2005. She was a long-time instructor in the Chicana/o Studies Department, deeply involved in university committees and initiatives, and recognized by the Faculty Senate with the “Extraordinary Service Award” in 2006. She was also an active participant in the California Library Association, the California Academic and Research Libraries Association, and REFORMA.

Karin Durán

Patricia Morris, faculty director of preservation at the University of Colorado (UC)-Boulder, died May 7. Prior to her position at UC-Boulder, she worked at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History for 11 years as director of collections management, and two years earlier as the supervisor of conservation services. From 1993 to 2001, Morris was adjunct faculty at the University of South Carolina in the College of Library and Information Science teaching preservation administration. Morris served on the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board as deputy coordinator for most of the 1990s. She was archivist for the Tennessee State Library and Archives from 1980 to 1987. She published extensively on topics such as managing the preservation environment, survey tools, and emergency planning and response and gave many presentations. She was a very active member of SAA and PALMCOP, and more recently became active with ALCTS PARS, serving as the Preservation Administrators Interest Group co-chair.” Morris’s service at the university libraries was characterized by a broad vision that encompassed the management and preservation of library resources; the design and operation of buildings and facilities that contribute to the longevity of materials; and the use of all available technologies to assure the protection and preservation of physical objects, to enable greater access to them by students and scholars; and to preserve their intellectual content.