Brown University Library News

As of January 1, 2019, the Research and Outreach Services staffing unit within the Brown University Library will be renamed Academic Engagement. With a mission to strengthen and sustain critical partnerships with Brown’s educational and research programs, Academic Engagement’s team of disciplinary and methodological experts will bring new focus to the Library’s central role in advancing academic excellence at Brown and supporting the priorities outlined in the University’s strategic and operational plans.

The new organizational structures for the staff, resources, and services that make up Academic Engagement and Preservation, Conservation, and Library Annex represent an important step toward strengthening the Library’s capacity to fulfill its emerging strategic vision and goals.

Academic Engagement will be jointly led by Erika Sevetson and Sarah Evelyn, both of whom have been promoted to, respectively, Director of Academic Engagement for Health, Biomedical, and Physical Sciences, and Director of Academic Engagement for the Humanities and Social Sciences. In these new roles, Erika and Sarah will report directly to Deputy University Librarian Nora Dimmock.

Erika Sevetson, Director of Academic Engagement for Health, Biomedical, and Physical Sciences

Erika Sevetson joined the Brown University Library and the Alpert Medical School in 2012 and has been instrumental to the growth of the Library’s collaborations with scholars in the sciences at Brown. In this new role, Erika will provide broad departmental leadership for activities in support of the research lifecycle, including impact evaluation, systematic review, data management, and scholarly communication and publication. Erika will also continue to serve as the Health Sciences Librarian, liaising with the BioMed Administrative Leadership Team, the Medical Director’s Team, and the MD Curriculum Committee.

Erika earned a bachelor’s degree in American History from Mount Holyoke College and an MLIS from Simmons College. Prior to the Brown Library, she worked at the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Ebling Library.

Sarah Evelyn, Director of Academic Engagement for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Sarah Evelyn, who came to the Library in 2005 and held positions of progressive responsibility, provides leadership in the development and delivery of user-centered library services, instructional design, and web services. She also oversees Library student orientation activities and provides guidance on open education resources and copyright. An expert in pedagogy, Sarah will have responsibility for Academic Engagement activities that advance the diverse teaching and learning goals of the Brown University community, including the creation of programs to enhance student learning and develop information literacy capabilities in collaboration with individual faculty members and key stakeholders. In this new role, she will support teaching strategies and disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarly and research activities across the domains for scholars/researchers at all levels, and with a focus on integrating social science and humanistic research methods.

Sarah received a bachelor’s degree in Communication from The American University, a master’s in Educational Technology from Pepperdine University, and an MLIS from Simmons College. Before coming to the Brown Library, Sarah held positions at the Center for Media Literacy, the Museum of Tolerance, WETA-TV, and iXL consulting.

Effective January 1, 2019, Michelle Venditelli will be promoted to Head of Preservation, Conservation, and the Library Annex, consolidating the reporting line of preservation and conservation operations at the Brown Library.

Michelle will continue to report directly to Associate University Librarian for Access Services and Collection Management, Boaz Nadav-Manes, who will be replaced by the Interim AUL for Access Services and Collection Management, Pat Putney, when Boaz departs in mid-January 2019 to assume the role of inaugural Executive Director of Libraries at Lehigh University.

Michelle has worked at Brown since 1997. Under her leadership, the preservation unit has evolved its focus on conservation and exhibit support while also developing creative approaches to more generic binding needs. In addition, Michelle has worked closely with the Annex team to make our largest library a hub of operational excellence. She has been instrumental in disaster preparation and contributed her talents to the Library in many other ways.

In her new role as the Head of Preservation, Conservation, and the Library Annex, Michelle will assume direct responsibility for the library conservation operation and will soon launch a renewed search for a conservator.

Michelle holds a BA in Psychology, Graduate Certificate in Human Resources and MLIS, University of Rhode Island. Prior to working at the Brown Library, she managed Carriage House Paper in Boston, MA, apprenticed in bookbinding and letterpress printing, and taught paper making and marbling in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She has also managed contemporary craft galleries in Los Angeles and Providence and worked as a bookbinder.