Evolving Landscapes in Academic and Public Libraries
Panel Abstract
Four library directors from major academic and public libraries offer their diverse perspectives on issues which are shaping the services we all offer as information professionals – changing service landscapes and users, data everywhere, aspirational building designs, digital initiatives, research Commons, and how new information technologies are changing the information ecosystems in which librarians of all types are working.
Panel Bios
Alison Armstrong is currently the Associate Director for Research and Education at The Ohio State University Libraries (OSUL). In that role, she serves as a member of OSUL’s Vice Provost and Director’s Executive Committee and as a member of Management Committee. Alison’s portfolio includes Research Services (reference, data management, and subject liaisons), Teaching & Learning, Assessment, Professional Development, and 8 department libraries including the 24/7, 18th Avenue Library which houses University Libraries’ Research Commons.
Alison began her career as an Instruction Librarian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, went on to the University of Cincinnati where she was instrumental in establishing both the First Year Experience/Info Commons Initiative and the Student Technology Resource Center (STRC). She has held library leadership positions at UCLA, at the American University in Cairo, and at the University of Vermont. Alison’s research interests have largely focused on the convergence of information literacy, undergraduate students, and technology; as well as on information literacy in the global or international context.
On The Ohio State University campus, Alison serves as a member of the General Education Review Coordinating Committee and her current professional engagement is with the Library Leadership & Management Association, a division within the American Library Association.
Tim Kambitsch is the Executive Director of the Dayton Metro Library. He is a native Daytonian and a graduate of Wright State University. He received his Masters in Library and Information Science at Kent State University.
Tim held the position of Associated Dean of Libraries at Butler University and much of his professional career involved was involved in library technology. He served the Dayton Metro Library as Assistant Director for Information Technology prior to his appointment to the position of Executive Director in 2001. Tim is proud to share that he began his library career as a page shelving books at the Library he now leads.
Tim has been active in the American Library Association and the Urban Libraries Council. And has held a number of leadership positions in the Ohio Library Council and the Ohio Public Library Information Network. His current community service includes serving on the Boards of the Dayton Society of Natural History, the Dayton Metro Library Foundation, Learn to Earn Dayton and the Montgomery County Law Library Resources Board. Tim is a 2006 graduate of the Dayton Area Change of commerce Leadership Dayton program and has been active in the Curriculum Committee and its Board of Governors.
Tim is currently leading a system-wide facilities improvement plan that is half way through replacing, expanding or remodeling the main library and every one of its branches. Since passing the $187 million bond issue in 2012, the Dayton Metro Library has completed 10 library projects including the $64, million renovation and expansion of the main library.
George Needham is Director of the Delaware County District Library in Delaware, Ohio. A graduate of the University at Buffalo for both his bachelor’s and MLS degrees, George has been involved in libraries since the 1970s as a reference librarian, branch manager, technologist, state librarian, and association executive. A frequent speaker at library events, George has also written several articles, contributed chapters to three books, and reviewed hundreds of books, audiobooks, DVDs and other materials for Library Journal, Booklist, The Columbus Dispatch, and AudioFile. His sole brush with non-library fame came as a two-time Jeopardy champion in December, 1994.
Terry Reese is the Head of Digital Initiatives at The Ohio State University Libraries where he oversees the development and implementation of digital library services. Terry has been an active researcher and participant in the library development community since 1999, working on a wide range of development and research projects. Throughout his career, his research has focused on how library metadata continues to evolve and change, and how these changes impact discovery and findability. Terry is the author and creator of MarcEdit — a tool developed primarily for the library cataloging community to lower technical barriers for catalogers, frequent speaker, and writer.