University of Cincinnati Libraries Seeks Two Associate Deans

The University of Cincinnati Libraries is currently seeking two Associate Deans (AD) to join the senior leadership team and be a part of continuing the transformation of the research library at the university. As a member of the senior leadership team, the ADs work collaboratively to realize the UC Libraries vision and strategic directions.

Associate Dean for Collections

The Associate Dean for Collections champions the implementation of the UC Libraries strategic plan and takes responsibility for meeting goals pertaining to collection management, preservation and special collections. The AD has programmatic, strategic, budgetary, managerial and operational responsibilities for the following libraries and departments in the University of Cincinnati Libraries: Collections, Content Services, Preservation, the Archives & Rare Books Library, Classics Library and College-Conservatory of Music Library.

Essential Functions

  • Collaborates with the Dean and senior leaders to identify UC Libraries’ needs, establish priorities, and develop goals, objectives, actions and measures of success. 
  • Leads the overall strategy and direction for units associated with collections, including acquisitions, metadata, digital projects and digitization, e-resource management, physical collections management and preservation.  
  • Develops and implements policies, procedures and best practices surrounding collection development and content strategy, including acquisition, licensing, description, preservation and withdrawal. 
  • Promotes the accessibility and use of special collections and archives to provide distinctive materials for learning and research. 
  • Plans and administers UC Libraries’ collections budget; collaborates with the business office and Content Services on budget reporting, monitoring and forecasting, invoice payment and fiscal year open/close. 
  • Determines budget allocations for UCL selectors and offers direction on budgets, renewals and licensing, vendor relations and related topics. 
  • Serves as the primary contact for vendors around a wide range of collections and related items paid on collections funds. 
  • Collaborates with internal UC offices, such as the Office of General Counsel, on processing license agreements and contracts related to collections. 
  • Collaborates with the UC Controller’s Office and Enterprise Risk Management regarding library collections valuation and statistics for the purpose of capital asset calculation and property insurance determination.


Associate Dean for Operations and User Services

The Associate Dean for Operations and User Services has programmatic, strategic, budgetary, managerial and operational responsibilities for the following libraries and departments in the University of Cincinnati Libraries: circulation, reserves, interlibrary loan, facilities and user experience. 

Essential Functions

  • Collaborates with the Dean and senior leaders to identify needs, establish priorities, and develop goals, objectives, actions and measures of success. 
  • Leads the overall strategy and direction of UC Libraries operations and user services, including administering policies, procedures and best practices. 
  • Leads daily operations for service desks, stacks maintenance, reserves processing, resource sharing and physical spaces. 
  • Drives the continuous improvement of user experiences throughout UC Libraries spaces – both physical and virtual.
  • Develops and oversees UC Libraries data collection and analysis, including reporting to national and institutional surveys. 
  • Fosters a culture of evidence-based decision-making through ongoing assessment of library operations and user experience. 
  • Recruits, hires, evaluates, develops and retains multiple faculty and staff that meet or exceed user expectations. 
  • Achieves organizational effectiveness through the successful management of financial and personnel resources. 
  • Fosters a culture of excellence through creating a respectful workplace environment. 
  • Chairs and serves on committees related to areas of responsibility or assigned by the Dean. 
  • Represents UC Libraries at regional, national and global professional engagements with the expectation of raising UC Library’s visibility and reputation. 

More information on both AD positions, including qualifications and how to apply, are available on the UC Libraries web site.

Angela Jackson joins UC Libraries as the associate to the dean and university librarian

angela jackson

On October 31, 2023, Angela Jackson joined the University of Cincinnati as associate to the dean and university librarian. Angela has been a part of the University of Cincinnati and UC Health organization since 2015, providing executive support to physicians and executive leadership within the College of Medicine for UC Health. Prior to accepting this role, Angela was the executive assistant to the SVP, chief operating officer, and vice president of Physician Network within the Ambulatory administration for UC Health.

Angela is a native of Cincinnati, and in her spare time loves to spend quality time with family, binge watching episodes of HGTV and taking long walks outside while listening to music from the 80’s and 90’s.

Welcome, Angela!

Tiffany Grant Awarded the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty

tiffany grantTiffany Grant, PhD, assistant director for research and informatics and co-director of the University of Cincinnati Libraries Research and Data Services Unit, in a ceremony held April 4, was honored to receive the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty. Named for the celebrated civil rights activist, this award is designed to showcase current campus-affiliated individuals and groups whose efforts relate to diversity, equity and inclusion and who have had a positive impact on the university.

Nominated by her colleagues, Tiffany was commended for her commitment to promoting awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion; exhibiting sensitivity to people of various cultures; facilitating growth among colleagues and peers; preparing students, faculty and staff to thrive in a diverse and global workforce; and collaborating with colleagues to create and implement initiatives and policies that build an equitable and inclusive environment. One nominator wrote of Tiffany that she, “embodies the spirit and dedication to spreading awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in all her work at the University of Cincinnati.” Continue reading

Graduating Student Workers: Thank you!

The UC Clermont College Library is grateful for all of the assistance and hard work provided by our Student Workers. These helpful people can regularly be found behind our information desk, checking out items for you or locating that exact material you need. They also keep all of our books shelved and organized.

As the academic year comes to a close, we want to specifically recognize our two graduating Student Workers: Hannah Johnson and Jeremy Ison. Continue reading

Edward Snyder officially joins UC Libraries as endpoint specialist

edward snyderAs of Monday, Feb. 27, Edward Snyder is now a full-time member of the UC Libraries staff as an endpoint specialist in LibraryIT Services.

Eddie has been with UC Libraries since October of 2020 both as a co-op and student assistant providing IT support throughout the various library locations and units. Since graduating from UC in May of 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, he has worked full-time with the Libraries as a temp employee. In that time, he has proven to be a valuable member of the IT team and we are happy that he has decided to continue his employment with us.

Welcome, officially, Eddie to UC Libraries!

Nimisha Bhat joins UC Libraries as assistant librarian

nimisha bhatNimisha Bhat joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 as assistant librarian and liaison to the departments of History, Anthropology, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Students.

Nimisha holds an MS in library and information science from Pratt Institute, School of Library and Information Science.

She comes to UC from Smith College where she was the visual arts librarian, planning and implementing research, instruction and reference support for faculty and students, as well as developing and managing collections in print, electronic and other formats for the visual arts, architecture, film and media studies. Prior to Smith College, Nimisha worked at Columbus College of Arts and Design and The Ohio State University Libraries.

Welcome, Nimisha!

Aja Bettencourt-McCarthy joins UC Libraries as Science & Engineering Global Services Librarian

Aja Bettencourt-McCarthyAja Bettencourt-McCarthy joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on February 1, 2023 as the science & engineering global services librarian.

Aja holds an MLIS degree from University of Washington and Bachelor’s degrees (French, community and regional development) from the University of California, Davis.

Aja may be a familiar face to many as she comes to UC Libraries from the Faculty Enrichment Center, located in the Walter C. Langsam Library, where she was the manager of special projects and programs.  Aja brings a wealth of experience in science and engineering academic librarianship, including previous positions in instruction and public services. Prior to arriving at UC, Aja was the STEM instruction librarian at the University of Kentucky (UK). Before UK, she worked as instruction coordinator / head of public services at the Oregon Institute of Technology’s Library.

Welcome, Aja to UC Libraries!

Announcing the 2021/22 UC Libraries Annual Progress Report: A Year of New Beginnings…

annual progress report header

Announcing the 2021-22 University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report: A Year of New Beginnings…a year that saw the broad return of students, faculty and staff to campus for fall semester. The transition from virtual to in-person was an extensive process as library spaces were re-evaluated to allow for a safe return to working and studying on campus. We welcomed students, faculty and staff back to campus with refreshed spaces, enhanced safety protocols for social distancing and a revived appreciation for working together in person.

The year also saw the announcement of our renewed Strategic Framework: NEXT Directions. The University of Cincinnati’s NEXT Lives Here Strategic Directions focus on the core areas of Academic Excellence, Urban Impact and the Innovation Agenda in order to engage people and ideas – and to transform the world. The University of Cincinnati Libraries is key to what’s NEXT.

In this Annual Report, we look back at the top News & Events, applaud Staff Accomplishments & Milestones and look at the Libraries By the Numbers and Financially.

While we celebrate the accomplishments of the past academic year, we also continue to move forward in pursuit of our vision of being the globally engaged, intellectual commons of the university – positioning ourselves as the hub of collaboration, digital innovation and scholarly endeavor on campus and beyond. I invite you to be a part of our journey – a journey led by our Guiding Principles of Investment in our People; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; and Digital Transformation.

The Annual Progress Report is available online via Sway. Happy Reading!

Erin Smith joins UC Libraries as collections acquisitions data specialist

erin smithErin Smith has joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries as the collections acquisitions data specialist in the Content Services Team. She started her position on January 17, 2023.

In this role, Erin will work closely with subject selectors and other Content Services staff to acquire material necessary to support the learning, instruction and research mission of UC Libraries. In addition, Erin will provide support for data analysis and functional aspects of acquisitions.

Erin worked previously at Northern Kentucky University Steely Library, with ten years of experience working in library acquisitions, and recently obtained her M.S. in Library Science from the University of Kentucky.

Welcome, Erin!

Lauren Reder joins UC Libraries as a cataloger focusing on Classics and Modern Greek

lauren rederLauren Reder joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on Monday, Jan. 9 as a cataloger focusing on Classics and Modern Greek.

Lauren has been working in the Libraries’ Content Services Team in a full-time temporary capacity since November 2021. She holds an MSLIS degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a BA in classical languages and cultures from Wright State University, with minors in English and art history.

Her responsibilities in the eResources & Access team will focus on serving as the primary cataloger for the Classics/Modern Greek collection. She will additionally provide general cataloging support across all collections, complete quality control routines, participate in e-resource projects, trouble-shoot problems in discovery and access and create and manage team procedural manuals and online content that are being converted to LibGuides where appropriate.

Welcome, Lauren, to UC Libraries!