Gary E. Strong to Step Down as University Librarian
UCLA Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
To: Academic Senate Leadership, Deans, Department Chairs, Directors, and Executive Officers
Dear Colleagues:
Gary E. Strong, University Librarian, has informed me that he intends to retire in December 2012. For the past nine years, Gary has led the transformation of the library at UCLA and has been instrumental in integrating library and information services in support of excellence at UCLA. He has been a strong asset to our campus and university and a valued colleague, and we will miss him greatly.
Under his leadership the collections have grown to over nine million volumes, as well as archives, audiovisual materials, corporate reports, government publications, microforms, technical reports, and other scholarly resources. More than 100,000 serial titles are received regularly. The UCLA Library also provides access to a vast array of digital resources, including reference works, electronic books and journals and other full-text titles and images. The growth of special collections has included a number of signature collections building on the strengths of this vast resource of primary sources. The introduction of the library’s digitization program has made possible the library’s integration into the emerging programs of digital scholarship and publishing in the humanities and social sciences. The emerging eScience initiatives will further enhance the library’s support of data creation and curation. During his tenure he created the library’s preservation and conservation program, the UCLA Digital Library, the Center for Primary Research and Training, and scholarly communications program.
The opening of the phased renovations within the Charles E. Young Research Library moves the library forward in support of the full research life-cycle on the campus and support to digital scholarship. He has pursued numerous partnerships on the campus, within the UC system and internationally that builds capacity and exposes research and new scholarship created by faculty and students at UCLA. On the campus, Gary has served on the Information Technology Planning Board (ITPB), the Committee on Information Technology Infrastructure (CITI), the Privacy and Data Protection Board, the faculty advisory committee to the 17th and 18th Century Studies Center, the California Rare Book School, the dean’s council and professional dean’s council. At the system level, he serves on the Council of University Librarians, the Systemwide Library and Scholarly Information Advisory Committee (SLASIAC), and the UC Press Board. He served on the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, the Association of Research Libraries, the Council on Libraries and Information Resources, the Coalition for Networked Information, the Research Libraries Group, and the Digital Library Federation. He has worked with the U.S. State Department in training librarians in Israel and Latin America and travelled extensively in China and Europe developing library partnerships.
Gary has overseen an ambitious program of expanding philanthropic support for library programs and collections raising $40 million in private support for library collections and programs. Under Gary’s leadership, the UCLA Library has received over $16 million in grants for numerous projects which have allowed the Library to acquire and process collections and initiate new programs and services.
Previously Gary was state librarian of California (1980-1994) and Executive Director of the Queens Borough Public Library in New York City (1994-2003).
I will form a search committee to identify candidates for Gary’s successor, and I will keep you informed of the search. Chancellor Block joins me in expressing thanks to Gary for his service and leadership.
Sincerely,
Scott L. Waugh
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost