Campus Updates

[alana]

Please share any campus updates using this thread!

[jenndevito]

The Stony Brook University Libraries welcomes some new people to the team:

Zheng Fu has a joint appointment to the School of Communication and Journalism and the University Libraries. Zheng will be joining us as a PRODiG+ Fellow specializing in Critical AI starting in fall. Zheng brings new opportunities to the SoCJ and Libraries to explore the intersection of AI and journalism. Her interests include how new technologies and changing politics influence the way we communicate and shape culture. Her research areas include the heterogeneous trust in AI, the social process of the identification of misinformation, the sociopolitical origins of science communication narratives amidst crises, the geopolitical origins of anti-immigration sentiments, and authoritarian legitimacy. Her works in progress include: “Trust in AI, Compared to What: A National Survey in China” and “What’s in the Frame? Comparing Fact-Checked Contents of Lay and Professional Fact Checkers.”

Nicholas E. Johnson is the new Director of AI at SBU Libraries leading the strategic integration of AI technologies to enhance library services, support academic engagement, and promote ethical and responsible use of AI.  Prior to this role, he served as a Senior Data and Analytics Advisor in the Bureau for Resilience, Environment and Food Security at USAID where he led quantitative efforts to analyze global food security trends, evaluate program impact, and support data-driven decision-making for the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative.

Three members of the SBU Libraries are recipients of the SUNY Chancellor Award for Excellence:
Excellence in Librarianship: Christine Fena, Undergraduate Success Librarian; Laurel Scheinfeld, Health Sciences Librarians
Excellence in Professional Service: John Fitzgerald, Senior Programmer Analyst

[Kate Brent]

   • We'll have a new instruction librarian starting in August!  More details in the next newsletter.
   • Our Evening Circulation Supervisor, Shannon Kelly, has left us to take a position at the Wellness Center on campus.  We wish her well, but we will miss her in the Library!

[mbeechey]

With the retirement of our Collection Development Librarian earlier this year, we are strategizing ways to manage the collection with individual librarians being responsible for their liaison areas and a Senior Library Clerk managing the ordering process.  The Collection Development position was revised into the AI and Information Literacy Librarian position which we will soon be interviewing for and hope to have someone in place in August.

This summer we have decided to close our downtown campus library for a few weeks due to the lack of student traffic there.  The three staff members there will work at our Brighton campus library and/or take vacation time until it reopens in August.

One of our amazing Principal Library Clerks, Mary Slifer, has been awarded the SUNY Chancellor Award for Excellence in Professional Service!

[Michelle Bowers]

Upstate recently recognized 4 of our library staff for their years of service: Chris Kucharski (Academic & Research Librarian) with 40 years, Cheryl Clancy (Administrative Assistant) with 35 years, Angela Der (Borrowing Specialist) with 5 years, and Elise DeAndrea (Head of Archives and Special Collections) with 5 years. We're grateful for all of their hard work and dedication.

We're sad to be losing two other great colleagues: Chaeyeon Kim (Digital Initiatives Archivist) and Shelby Manchester (Work Study Supervisor). We wish them all the best in their new endeavors!

Access Services hosted a New Student Welcome Carnival for our incoming PT/PA students last week, complete with popcorn, lemonade, games and balloon animals. It was a big hit, and they're planning on doing a similar event for the incoming med students.

[kstanwicks]

Library Facilities & Spaces:
- The University Libraries is working with Annum Architects, the SUNY Construction Fund,  University Facilities, and campus stakeholders to engage in a comprehensive space study of the three University Libraries in preparation for a major renovation of the University Library.
- The Great Dane Hall of Service opened in the University Library Garden Level and included a  rededication of the University's Veterans Wall of Honor in this space. The redesigned space is a celebrations of the service our students, faculty, and staff have given to the community and their country.
- We are wrapping up a major redesign of our University Library Garden Level with new furniture for collaborative work


Staffing
- We recently wrapped up in-person interviews for our Head of Access Services position.
- We are actively recruiting for three librarian positions: 2 cataloging librarians and a scholarly communications librarian.
- Additional openings for librarians and staff will be posted soon.


A number of our librarians gave presentations at the ACRL annual conference in Minneapolis:
- Kelsey O'Brien and Abby Adams presented their poster: “Werewolves on Campus: Inoculating Students Against Misinformation with an Information Literacy Game”
- Yu-Hui Chen presented a poster titled: “Empowering Future Scholars: Navigating the Path to Publication”
- Camille Chesley presented as part of the panel discussion titled: “Equity Check: Uncovering Reimbursement Culture in Academic Hiring Practices”


The Collections & Discovery Division and the Academic Success Division are working through division planning this summer. We are focusing on concepts including division organization, library services, staffing, and alignment with the Libraries' new mission, vision, and values statements.


We are excited to highlight two new collections for the fall semester. We have a video gaming collection that includes games and consoles, and we are setting up a new wellness collection.


The University Libraries received an award from our University's Disability Accessibility and Inclusivity Student Services for our partnership to develop an alternative testing space in the Science Library.


The Libraries hosted the Eastern New York Chapter/ACRL spring conference on May 21 in our Science Library.