After a nine-month nationwide search, Brown has hired Yale librarian David Stern as its first permanent associate university librarian for scholarly resources.
The University created the new position to oversee its $8 million library collection budget. Stern will devote his time to working with journal subscriptions, magazines and other scholarly materials acquired by the library - a responsibility currently shared by more than 30 librarians.
"I'm hoping that what I could do is make it easier for people to find all of the relevant and related information that we might be purchasing," Stern said.
As well as being in charge of journal subscriptions, Stern intends to "improve the seamless access" to resources available through other universities. He also hopes to make it easier for students to utilize non-textual materials, such as photos and videos.
Stern, who will start his new job on March 1, has been the director of science libraries and information services at Yale since 1995. In addition to being a librarian, he has worked as a professor, magazine editor and member of the board of directors of the Special Libraries Association. He holds degrees from the University of Connecticut and Indiana University.
University Librarian Harriette Hemmasi told The Herald she had wanted to create the new position since she had arrived at Brown in 2005. She said that Stern stood out as the right candidate after she interviewed a wide range of applicants.
"He has dealt with the issues that are so important as far as the expenditure of journals," Hemmasi said. "Overall, what he will bring to us is important as far as understanding ... the kind of spending we have to do."
Hemmasi said that science materials, Stern's area of expertise, comprise about 40 percent of the library's collection budget.
During the search to fill the new position, Director of Special Collections Sam Streit served in the role on an interim basis.
