Message from the Interim Dean

I love the energy on the Pullman campus at the start of the fall semester. This semester feels different for me. Since the start of my appointment as interim dean of the WSU Libraries in May, I have had the great fortune to learn more about all aspects of our library services. My colleagues and I love our work supporting the campus community and its research needs. We have collected and made accessible research publications since the start of WSU in 1891. We assist all researchers in locating and evaluating scholarly resources. Our spaces provide opportunities for collaboration, quiet reflection, and contemplation. Over the last 25 years, we have scanned and posted online historic photographs, moving images, maps, and other texts.

Starting this academic year, with support from Provost Chris Riley-Tillman and President Kirk Schulz, the Libraries will take on a new role as home for the WSU Press. I am excited about the opportunities to collaborate with the press on its upcoming publications, hosting author readings, integrating WSU Press publications in WSU classes, and providing opportunities for our students to gain experience in publishing.

Phil Gruen, a professor in the WSU School of Design and Construction, delivered a featured lecture Aug. 27 as part of WSU Libraries’ celebration of Terrell Library’s 30-year anniversary.

This issue of Browse surfaces the varied and often hidden stories of what we do as an academic library and profiles our talented and engaged faculty and staff. For example, Talea Anderson, our scholarly communication librarian, worked with WSU Vancouver Library Archivist Robert Schimelpfenig and Washington State School for the Blind Superintendent Scott McCallum to co-curate a June exhibit that explored the 100-year history of tactile print systems.

This week, we celebrated an important milestone: Terrell Library’s 30th anniversary. Phil Gruen, a professor in the WSU School of Design and Construction and an amazing speaker, gave a lecture titled “Spaces of Knowledge: Designing the Future and Past of the Library” to a full Terrell atrium. At the reception that followed, we opened the original west entrance to Holland Library, which had been closed for 30 years, and liberally dispersed grabbers from Ferdinand’s.

Finally, please join me in welcoming three new colleagues who will help us in critical library areas: Anne Robertson in technical services and Sheila Kite and Shane Johnson in library administration. Do let me know if you would like to talk about any aspect of the WSU Libraries and, if you visit my office, I’ll make you a cup of coffee served in a proper cup.

Trevor