University Committee Annual Report to the Shared Governance Council

Committee: University Libraries
Report Year: 2024

Committee Chair(s)Nick Yablon
Committee Members
  • Bruce Ayati
  • Loren Glass
  • Katrina Sanders
  • Briana Horwath
  • Diane Huber
  • Mae Barron
  • Anna O’Connor
  • Anthony Panos
  • Chelsea Burk-Betts

Staff:

  • John Culshaw
  • Karen Shemanski
  • Jade E. Davis
  • Kelly Taylor
Committee Charge
  1. The Committee shall be governed by the terms of the General Charter.
  2. In addition, the Committee shall:
    1. Advise the University Librarian on policies and strategic issues related to the resources and services the University Libraries provide;
    2. Advise the University Librarian on the needs of library stakeholders, including faculty, students, and staff;
    3. Advise the University Librarian on issues related to library collections in light of new and changing campus programs, changing patterns of faculty and student use, and specialized needs of the different disciplines;
    4. Advise the University Librarian on the use, development, and assignment of space in library facilities, including the Main Library, the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, the branch libraries, and the high-density archival facility.
Current Year Meeting Dates9/15, 10/13, 11/17, 2/16, 3/28, 5/6
Please indicate the typical frequency of meetings (e.g., first Tuesday of month at 4 pm). If there are subcommittees, please indicate the frequency of those meetings, too.Once a month during the fall and spring semesters.
Current Year Activities

Various UI libraries staff members visited the committee to apprise us of a variety of initiatives and facility projects across the university libraries, including: the renovation of the Hardin Library for Health Sciences; the library’s open access agreements; the Digital Scholarship and Publishing Studio; the libraries’ collaborations with UI museums; and the “Making the Book” exhibition in the Main Library Gallery.

The University Librarian provided updates, and answered our questions, about various matters, including: budget and personnel issues, internal and external evaluations of the libraries, etc.

Topics your committee anticipates addressing during the coming yearMain Library modernization plans
Open Access and evolving nature of journal subscriptions/licenses.
Continued conversation about UI libraries’ collections expenditures.
Other issues of concernNone.
What should we tell applicants for this committee regarding expectations of members (anticipated workload, existence of subcommittees, etc.)?Workload is light and committee is well run. The meetings are informative and congenial. There are no subcommittees.
Recommendations, if any, to the shared governance groups.None