On January 10, Carrie Baldwin-SoRelle, formerly Social Sciences and Scholarly Communications Librarian at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, was appointed Health Sciences Librarian and Liaison to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.

New Mexico State University (NMSU) has selected Kevin James Comerford as the next dean of the NMSU Library. Comerford comes to NMSU from the University of California, Riverside, where he served as Associate University Librarian for Research, Technology, and the Digital Library.

MSR Design, of Minneapolis, has hired 30-year library architecture veteran Jeffery Davis, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, SEED AP, as the firm’s newest Senior Associate.

Valeda Dent has been named the Inaugural Vice Provost of Libraries and Museum at Emory University, GA, effective in July. Dent comes to Emory from Hunter College of the City University of New York, NYC, where she serves as Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs as well as Vice President for Student Success and Learning Innovation.

AnnaLee Dragon, previously Director of the Kinderhook Memorial Library, NY, since 2012, became the Executive Director of the New York Library Association on February 14.

Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library Deputy Director James G. Durham stepped into the position of Director on February 9. Durham was the first deputy director of the Law Library and has served in the role since 2011. Durham succeeds former Director Steven P. Anderson, who retired after a 20-year career.

Jennifer Friedman has been appointed Associate Dean of Research and Learning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries. Prior to the new role, Friedman served as Head of Research Services and Interim Associate Dean of Research and Learning, and worked in support of the Libraries’ Academic Liaisons Program.

The Indianapolis Public Library has appointed Keesha Hughes as its new Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer. Hughes most recently worked as the Communications Director and Anti-Racism Committee leader at Perry Township Schools.

Slaven Lee, former Customer Access Division Manager at the Austin Public Library, TX, has been appointed Executive Director of the Missoula Public Library, MT. Lee replaces Honore Bray, who will retire on March 31 after 16 years in the role.

The University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA) Library has named Jennifer Osorio Director of UCLA Library Special Collections. Osorio, who began her career at UCLA in 2007, most recently served as both Interim Director of Special Collections and Head of International and Area Studies and Librarian for Latin America and Caribbean Studies, Spanish/Portuguese and Ethnic Studies.

Molly Reed has been appointed the new Strategic Communications Director at the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI). Reed comes to PALNI from Western Michigan University, where she most recently served as Marketing Specialist Senior for the Haworth College of Business.

Rivkah Sass, former Library Director of Sacramento Public Library, CA, has joined Smart Horizons Career Online Education as the Director of Strategic Library Partnerships.

John Spears, who served for more than six years as Chief Librarian and CEO of Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD), CO, will become head of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, NY, in April. Teona Shainidze Krebs, currently PPLD’s Chief Public Services Officer & Deputy Chief Librarian, has been appointed as interim Chief Librarian & CEO.

Halley Sutherland joined the staff of the New York State Library’s Division of Library Development as a Library Development Specialist on January 6. Sutherland, a member of the Technology, Reporting, and Federal Aid Team, will provide program management assistance and leadership for the administration of federal library programs and broadband and digital inclusion initiatives.

Lindsay Wertman has been appointed as President of IGI Global Publishing House. Wertman most recently served as Managing Director for more than 10 years.

Anthony Wilson has been promoted to serve in the newly created Chief of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion position at Columbus Metropolitan Library, OH. Wilson joined CML in 2018 as Director of Safety & Security after more than 25 years in central Ohio law enforcement.

IN MEMORIAM

Kenya Siana Flash, Yale University Librarian for Political Science, Global Information, and Government Information at Marx Science and Social Science Library, died on December 24 at age 41 after a short illness. She was also active in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Diversity Alliance residency program. Beginning in 2023, Yale University Library will host a three-year residency for an early career librarian from a professionally underrepresented racial or ethnic group in Flash’s honor.

Anne R. Kenney, Cornell University Librarian Emerita, died at Hospicare in Ithaca on February 5 at age 72. Kenney first joined Cornell University Library in 1987 as associate director in the Department of Preservation and Conservation and served as the 11th Carl A. Kroch University Librarian from 2007 until her retirement in 2017.