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Announcement | Barbara Schulz, Head of Library Facilities and Security, Retires
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Barbara Schulz Barbara Schulz began at the Brown University Library as the Head of Library Facilities, Finance and Business in 1994. During her 25 years with the Library, Barbara managed a multitude of facilities projects that have shaped the buildings, interiors, landscapes, functions, and security of every Library building and space.
Some of the notable projects she worked on include:
- At the Rockefeller Library:
- Vincent J. Wernig Graduate Student Reading Room (2016)
- Sidney E. Frank Digital Studio (2015)
- Lobby and Café (2015)
- Historic Chandelier Restoration (2015)
- Sorensen Family Reading Room (2014)
- Patrick Ma Digital Scholarship Lab (2012)
- Finn Reading Room (2010)
- Circulation (2010)
- At the John Hay Library:
- First Floor Restoration (2014)
- Life Safety & HVAC Upgrade (2014)
- Building Security System (2014)
- Exhibition Room (2009)
- At the Sciences Library:
- Quiet Study (2011)
- Friedman Study Center (2006)
- At the Library Annex:
- Construction of the Annex High Bay Storage Module #2 (2014)
- Construction of the Library Collections Annex (2003; project co-manager)
Barbara officially retires this October as the Head of Library Facilities and Building Safety. The Library is deeply grateful to Barbara for her years of dedicated service and her commitment to the Library’s mission and values. Through her leadership, library facilities offer patrons and staff a safe, comfortable, accessible, and inviting library environment. We wish Barbara all the best in her retirement.
- At the Rockefeller Library:
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Announcement | Head of Preservation, Conservation, and the Library Annex Exhibits Disaster Preparedness Kit at the United Nations
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Michelle Venditelli describes the Brown University Library’s disaster preparedness kit to colleagues from India at the UN In May of this year, Michelle Venditelli, Head of Preservation, Conservation, and the Library Annex, attended “Sustainable Development Goals in Libraries today: the role of libraries in strengthening our communities,” a panel discussion at the United Nations’ Dag Hammarskjöld Library in New York. While there, she was invited to exhibit at the 68th Annual United Nations Civil Society Conference at the Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. She was also asked to be a mentor during the Youth Mentorship Circle – Setting the Stage for Success.
The three-day conference, held August 26 – 28, 2019, was co-hosted by the UN Department of Global Communications, Salt Lake City, and the NGO Executive Committee. It featured opening and closing plenary sessions, interactive thematic sessions, NGO-sponsored workshops, exhibits, and a youth hub. Speakers and attendees included leaders and other representatives from NGOs, UN agencies, academia, faith traditions, the public and private sectors, and youth from around the world.
The conference focused on #11 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a blueprint for action, advocacy, and partnership and a compass to ensure that no one is left behind, including those who are poor and vulnerable. The 11th SDG is, “to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by 2030.” The conference also explored the interlinkages among all 17 Goals, including critical issues relating to gender.
During the exhibition component, Michelle presented an exhibit entitled “Reducing Risk in Libraries, Museums, and Cultural Institutions through Disaster Preparedness Kits.” She was accompanied by a fully stocked disaster kit, which represents the Brown University Library’s new approach to localized threats to our collections. Showcasing the kit at this conference provided Michelle with an opportunity to discuss cutting edge preservation efforts and techniques with professional peers from around the globe. “It was an honor to exhibit at this unique and critically important conference,” Michelle said. “Interacting with experts in disaster preparedness as well as professionals seeking to develop best practices around disaster prep for collections of all kinds was incredibly informative and rewarding.”
The kit was extremely well received and sparked robust, excited conversation from library and museum colleagues from states throughout the U.S. and abroad. More than once, a colleague told Michelle that the kit is “like a crash cart for disasters.”
Staff from the University of Utah’s Marriott Library were particularly impressed with the kit. At the conclusion of the conference, instead of shipping the sizable unit back to Brown, Michelle and the Brown Library gifted it to the Marriott Library, providing them with a much-needed preservation tool, which they were thrilled to receive.
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Announcement | Andrew Creamer Named Librarian on AMS Library Committee
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Andrew Creamer, Librarian for Computer Science and CLPS – Scientific Data Management The Library is pleased to announce that American Mathematical Society (AMS) President Jill C. Pipher has appointed Andrew Creamer to the post of Librarian on the AMS Library Committee. Andrew is the Brown University Library’s Data Management Librarian, and he supports Computer Science and CLPS.
Membership on this committee is split between librarians and mathematicians. The committee supports both mathematicians and librarians in the use, maintenance, and betterment of mathematics libraries.
Andrew will serve for a term of three years, effective February 1, 2020 through January 31, 2023.
The AMS Library Committee Charge
The Library Committee considers the use by mathematicians of all the various resources found in mathematics libraries in Canada and the United States. It periodically collects and maintains authoritative data on those libraries, and it provides advice about the questions to be addressed when library surveys are conducted. It studies and articulates the needs and concerns of mathematicians about their use of both print and electronic information. It monitors problems in libraries and fosters dialog between mathematicians and librarians on issues concerning the dissemination and preservation of research. It supports librarians in their efforts to build and maintain better mathematics libraries and to provide ready access to information.