From the dean

Having completed my first full year here as dean in September, I feel a bit like a Northwestern student: I’ve been listening, taking notes, building relationships across campus, and learning, learning, learning every day.

Since my first day I have been spending a great deal of time getting to know our library staff, and I am pleased that my first impression has been indisputably confirmed: Our people are fantastic. They are dedicated, creative, and inspiring, filled with professional passion that will play an important part in building our future. I have truly enjoyed getting to know them.

Speaking of that future, we’ve been rolling out our vision document this fall to establish the pillars of our strategy. We’ll soon be sharing it more widely—it’s important that our biggest supporters know where we’re headed and how we will get there.

Even as we establish that vision, our hard work has continued unabated, as you will see in this issue. Librarians and staff are at work in every aspect of academic life, making us essential partners to the research community while pursuing innovation and insights that lift our entire profession.

In this issue you will also read about the addition of James Lee to our staff as an associate University librarian for academic innovation. His expertise at the intersection of digital humanities and machine learning plays an important part in our vision, shaping how we accomplish our goals to become essential campus partners in the creation of knowledge.

Lastly, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our donors for their unwavering annual support. Their contributions give us the ability to live up to the promise that librarianship offers to an academic institution. Other libraries would count themselves lucky to have a fraction of the engagement we enjoy with our devoted alumni and donors.

I remain grateful for your confidence in us.