A library characterized by dusty text is an outdated concept, and the newly selected dean and university librarian defies the antiquated image attached to the institution.
“I think any librarian who’s successful today is very adaptive to the fast, fast pace of changes technologically,” said Joan Ruelle, who will assume the position at Elon University June 1.
The selection committee recognized the ability to transform the library in accordance with patrons’ technological literacy as a significant qualification for the new librarian, according to Mary Wise, associate vice president of academic affairs and chairwoman of the selection committee.
“It’s not about collecting books and putting them on shelves,” Wise said. “We wanted someone who understands the trend in library use, and patrons want to get access to information from wherever they are.”
While students perceive the library as a place of study, Ruelle described it as an institutional component designed to support scholarship and research. Accommodating student and faculty needs develops a library central to the university’s mission.
The current expectations for information availability create new job qualifications. When Kate Hickey, the current dean and university librarian, arrived at Elon, she could not assume every student had a computer, Wise said. But now, online resources dominate user experience.
“We had to find someone who wasn’t afraid of technology and had experience in technology,” Wise said.
Nevertheless, with rapid technological advancements, librarians are challenged to select which devices best support the community, Ruelle said.
“The challenge is to know the community well enough to know when to go to the digital format and when to preserve the print format,” she said.
As University Librarian at Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., Ruelle built a library program attractive to the student body, transforming a place she said students had compared to “the living room at your grandmother’s house that had fancy furniture you weren’t supposed to sit in” to a comfortable environment.
“She took a library at Hollins that had been pretty marginalized and made it a place where students wanted to come,” Wise said.
In an effort to convert the library’s reputation, the Virginian university’s library hosted events titled Rock the Stacks, during which bands were invited to perform in the library. Simply rearranging the furniture also contributed to the transformation, Ruelle said.
Ruelle acknowledged Belk Library as an already established component to student and academic life.
“The fact that students call the library Club Belk says a lot,” Ruelle said. “It says the library is at the heart of the campus community.”
Librarians currently meet with classes to help students find necessary resources and apply information to their respective assignment. The relationship between Elon librarians and academia appealed to Ruelle, she said.
She said she looks forward to working with a strong program and exploring where the university will go next.