As we prepare to welcome Claire Stewart as our new Dean, I’d like to take a moment to thank all of you for the work you are doing to help our users and each other. It’s been exciting to see and feel a buzz of activity in all our spaces, to see students studying, books being located and delivered, and most importantly library staff working with and helping people in person or remotely.

As I noted after moving into the role of interim dean, we are moving forward with some critical work to prepare for Claire’s arrival. On March 9th, a small group of us from Administration will be meeting with the Provost office budget staff to present our annual budget report and request. Look forward to an update from me shortly thereafter. We’ll highlight areas such as our return to onsite services, our support for student success, and the forward momentum on our Library building plan. I’ve shared the plan with Claire, and we’ll continue to share additional critical documents.

Looking a bit more to what’s happening internally, it’s also an exciting time. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be working with the Library Executive Committee, LCP, LSSC, and members of Administration to continue conversations and process improvements to foster better communication and inclusion in governance.  

As I know from my conversations with her, Claire is keen to meet us, to better understand our services, and to help us elevate our already strong campus profile. Over the next few weeks, we’ll begin to gather information and input to help her to get to know our units and services.  And—best of all—we’ll begin planning for an event to meet, greet, and welcome her to Champaign-Urbana and the University.

In the meantime, remember that my door is always open. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Chris Prom
Interim Dean of Libraries and University Librarian