Shannon Cary
In the News
“Kara Whatley appointed MU vice provost and university librarian”
Show Me Mizzou, June 10, 2024
“MU has a new vice provost and university librarian”
Columbia Missourian, June 10, 2024
“Kara Whatley Appointed Vice Provost for Libraries and University Librarian at University of Missouri”
ARL News, June 14, 2024
New Muse Post
Kara Whatley appointed MU vice provost and university librarian
The University of Missouri Libraries are pleased to share the appointment of Kara Whatley as vice provost for libraries and university librarian, effective Oct. 1, 2024. Whatley is currently the university librarian at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and serves as the chief executive of the Caltech Library system.
Whatley’s previous roles include positions of increasing leadership at Texas Tech University Libraries and New York University Libraries. Throughout her career, she has shown a consistent strategic focus on catalyzing information discovery, preservation and sharing to support the university mission.
She is a member of the Association of College Research Libraries (ACRL) and is currently serving as the ACRL Division Councilor and the ACRL representative to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Science and Technologies section. She also currently serves as a member of the Elsevier North American Library Advisory Board, the EBSCO North American Deans and Directors Library Advisory Board and the Springer Nature Library Advisory Board.
The Libraries are also pleased to share that Jeannette Pierce will serve as interim vice provost for libraries and university librarian until Whatley’s arrival in October. Jeannette has a strong track record of leadership and is well positioned to continue the libraries’ momentum in the interim period. Please join us in welcoming Kara Whatley to Mizzou and congratulating Jeannette Pierce on her interim appointment.
Library Management Team Notes 5/28/2024
Welcome to Piper-Brown Kingsley
MU is pleased to announce the hire of Piper Brown-Kingsley as the Information and Data Services Librarian at the Health Sciences Library starting June 3. Piper is a May 2024 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Library School. In addition, she’s been working as a Remote Data Curation Intern at the National Network Data Archive (NaNDA) at the University of Michigan. We’re so excited to have her join the Information Services Team at the Health Sciences Library. She will be work remotely full-time until the Health Sciences Library reopens.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the interviews and provided feedback on the candidates.
Diane Johnson, on behalf of the search committee:
Rebecca Graves
Caryn Scoville
Taira Meadowcroft
Terri Hall
Rae Thudium
New Muse Posts
New Librarian Promotions
The following librarians have received promotions:
Seth Huber, Promotion to Librarian III
Taira Meadowcroft, Promotion to Librarian III
Rae Thudium, Promotion to Librarian II
May SAG Meeting Notes and Recording
Thank You to Special Collections Field Trip Volunteers
Along with the museums, Special Collections hosted field trip visits for all the sixth grade classes in Columbia Public Schools during April and May. Over 1,300 kids and teachers visited and learned about palm leaf books from Southeast Asia, cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia, and papyrus from ancient Egypt. We have gotten feedback that the Special Collections visit was a great experience for both the kids and teachers!
We could not have offered programming at this scale without the help of many volunteers. Thank you all for your dedication, enthusiasm, and willingness to share library knowledge and resources with some of our youngest patrons.
Volunteers and Special Collections staff:
Abbie Brown
Cindy Cotner
Clare Starkey
Gabe Harman
Grace Brosi
Gwen Gray
Haley Lykins
Janet Hilts
Janice Dysart
Jara Anderson
Jill Kline
John Konzal
John Henry Adams
Marie Concannon
Megan Ballengee
Michaelle Dorsey
Noël Kopriva
Paula Roper
Rachel Brekhus
Stephanie Prou
Taira Meadowcroft
Ying Hu