You started at Yale just a few months after the outbreak of COVID-19. What was it like to start during the pandemic, and how have library functions changed in its aftermath?

Starting in the summer of 2020 gave me an incredibly clear, unifying mission: we needed to reopen the library. Like much of the university, the library had closed in March, and we knew we needed to reopen for the students returning to campus in the fall. We spent months creating policies to protect our staff and patrons, and we were so proud to reopen that August. That fall, the library served as a deeply important ‘third space’ for students stuck in their residential colleges and taking classes online. The library was a space where they could be in community during that difficult time.

Some of the systems we developed to adapt to the pandemic continue today. We now mail library materials all over the country, which started when many of our students and faculty were not on campus or did not feel safe coming into the library. But even as the pandemic waned, we realized that there was no reason to discontinue the policy. If people can’t come to the library, we need to bring the library to them. Our books and materials are accessible to members of the Yale community whether they are in New Haven or not.

 

What relationships do Yale’s libraries have with the greater New Haven community?

Yale is an institution of great privilege, and we have a responsibility to make our collections open to the world, and especially to the place in which we live. Yale is made stronger by deepening its ties to the New Haven community, and that relationship has been a real priority of the library.

This year, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we created a pop-up exhibition on King in the reading room of the Beinecke. We gathered hundreds of members of the New Haven community to view and engage with primary sources related to King. That’s the kind of thing that not many libraries could do, but we can. It’s incredible to witness the public immersed in these materials, and it is a real priority for us to make sure that people of all ages in the New Haven community know that these resources exist here, in their city, and are open to them.

 

What are some changes happening at the library right now that you are excited about?

The Linonia and Brothers Room in Sterling Memorial Library was established in 1931 as a leisure reading collection. The room is not meant to be a place of serious study, but of refuge and relaxation. The space and its furnishings are beloved by generations of Yalies. But during COVID, we learned the ventilation in the L&B Room was so poor that we could not safely reopen it, so a restoration (including HVAC upgrades) was in order. With generous help from donors, we have raised more than 80 percent of the funding needed to refurbish the L&B Room and restore its original splendor. Next spring, we are going to reopen what I think will be the most beautiful room on campus.