Travel Schedule

I have just finished up the first of two business related travel trips over the next week. I led the BLC Board Meeting at Williams College in Williamstown, MA in their beautifully renovated new library. We wished our colleague Will Wakeling a wonderful retirement as he is ready to leave his post as the Dean of Northeastern University Libraries, and wished Elaine Martin all the best as she moves on to her new role as Director of the Countway Library at Harvard Medical School. We also reviewed the proposal from the AUL committee with their recommendations for a more thoughtful and realistic workforce development program as well as a BLC leadership initiative, and engaged in several conversations on resource sharing and collection development. Early this week I will be attending the ARL Fall Meeting in Washington, DC. In addition to topics such as trends in ARL statistical data and updates from committees such as the Membership, Engagement and Outreach Committee I serve on, there are two special presentations I am looking forward to. First is the Open Access panel where we will discuss shared value and the different paths to move open scholarship forward and secondly a “debate” of sorts on Sci-Hub where ARL directors will take sides in the piracy vs. public good conversation.

Retirement Reception for Jo Ann

I know you all received an invitation and I look forward to seeing you this Thursday along with some of the faculty and retirees that she has worked with over her 40 years at UConn.

Staff Smiles

There are two things that I would like to share that I hope will bring a smile. First is Jenny Miglus. Jenny gave her nursing outreach program at the Health Sciences Library this fall a new look. Since the idea is to hunt down answers to questions and other needed materials in a Question Safari, she dressed the part. I also wanted to share with you that I just became a grandmother again – Kepler Bedard was born on September 8, all of 4lbs, 12 oz. He joins his brother Bode and my son Noah and daughter-in-law Chelsea. Both of these pictures are reminders to me of how important it is to find joy in all of the things that are a part of our lives – at work and at home.