Finalists, visit dates announced for university librarian

Four finalists for the position of vice provost for libraries and university librarian will visit campus over the next six weeks, meeting with campus and community constituencies and participating in a series of public presentations.

A 14-member search and screen committee, chaired by classics professor William Aylward, recommended the finalists to Provost Paul M. DeLuca Jr.

The finalists include:

John Culshaw (download CV), professor and senior associate dean of libraries  at the  University of Colorado Boulder. Culshaw previously served as faculty director of the library’s systems department and interim faculty director for reference and instructional services. He co-authored the book “Managing Information Technology: A Handbook for Systems Librarians.” Twice elected chair of the international Innovative Users Group, he is founding facilitator of the Rocky Mountain Regional Innovative Users Group. His research interests include managing information technology in academic libraries and integrating library and campus technologies.

Culshaw received a master’s degree in information studies from Drexel University and a bachelor’s degree in history from UW–Parkside.

Jeffrey Garrett (download CV),  associate university librarian for special libraries and director of special collections and archives at the Northwestern University Library in Evanston, Ill. Garrett has chaired the Western European Studies Section (WESS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries and the German–North American Resource Partnership (GNARP), part of the Center for Research Libraries’ Global Resources Network. He served twice as president of the Hans Christian Andersen awards jury of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Research interests include knowledge organization and cognition, 18th and early 19th century German library history, and international children’s literature.

Garrett received a master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in linguistics from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany.

Mary-Jo Romaniuk (download CV), most recently acting chief librarian at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Romaniuk is a Fellow of the Frye Leadership Institute and is involved with the organization of the Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute. Before joining the university library system, she held senior positions in Alberta’s provincial government. Her research interests include library leadership — particularly library leadership programming — as well as assessment, financial management, and scholarly communication and collection development.

Romaniuk received a master’s degree in library and information studies from San Jose State University and a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Saskatchewan; she is currently on sabbatical while completing doctoral studies through Australia’s Queensland University of Technology.

Ed Van Gemert (download CV), interim director of libraries for the General Library System at UW–Madison. Van Gemert served as deputy director and associate director for public services in the university’s General Library System before assuming interim leadership. He also held the interim role in 2006, while then-director Ken Frazier served as interim CIO. He is an active member of the Association of Research Libraries, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the Council of Wisconsin Libraries. He also chairs the Strategic Advisory Board of the HathiTrust. His research interests include organizational management and digital library development.

Van Gemert received both his master’s degree in library and information studies and bachelor’s degree in political science from UW–Madison.

All candidates will take part in public presentations, held in the Biotechnology Center Auditorium, 425 Henry Mall. The presentations will also be made available online after all candidates have presented. Before and during the presentations’ Q & A sessions, digital viewers may submit candidate questions by email.

The public presentation schedule is as follows:

Ed Van Gemert: Tuesday, Nov. 6 from 10-11:15 a.m.
Jeffrey Garrett: Wednesday, Nov. 28 from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
John Culshaw: Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Mary-Jo Romaniuk: Thursday, Dec. 13 from 10-11:15 a.m.

The vice provost for libraries will lead a system of sixteen libraries in the General Library System, including approximately 225 full time employees. The GLS leads and coordinates decentralized library services on campus, providing technical infrastructure, support for acquisitions and integration of campus library services. The physical collections of the GLS are among the largest in the country, with more than eight million volumes.

The new librarian will succeed Ken Frazier, who retired in December following 19 years at the helm of the General Library System. Van Gemert has served as interim director since that time.