Systems and Technical Services Librarian transition

Farewell, Lindsey Sinnott, MSLIS

When Lindsey Sinnott left the Systems and Technical Services Librarian position in January, the library felt a deep loss professionally, functionally, and personally. Lindsey had started as Acquisitions Manager in April 2010 and, upon completing her MS in Library and Information Science, joined the full-time faculty. Among her accomplishments in the role of Systems and Technical Services Librarian, she redesigned the library’s website and managed the migration from a traditional library system to a new cloud-based technology. In that time, she formed many meaningful collaborative relationships with fellow librarians, teaching faculty, and staff.

Although a search was launched for her replacement immediately the process of finding the right person for this responsibility takes time. The job vacancy was posted on several sites and a faculty search committee was formed to review viable candidates.

Thank you, Sonya True, MLIS

In the mean time, the Darling Library would have been “up a creek without a paddle” if it hadn’t been for Sonya True, Professor and Digital Initiatives Library Director at Vanguard University. It just so happens that Sonya has an annual nine-month contract with Vanguard, leaving her open to fill in for us temporarily just when we needed her. In her short time with us, she not only held her finger in the dike to keep us from drowning in our time of need, but with dogged determination, she moved us from a near standstill with one long term troublesome project to completion. We owe her a great deal of gratitude!

This position is responsible for managing the library’s catalog/circulation system, discovery tools, and the website. They oversee the library’s electronic resources, digital collections, and technology infrastructure as well as the Information Commons and, above all, they make sure our students have access to the online library resources. And that is only the Systems half of the job description.

Indeed, finding a qualified candidate with the professional library science degree and the right skill set who is a good fit for the University in terms of faith and culture is a serious challenge. Nevertheless, we are pleased to announce that we have concluded our search. Ms. Jennifer Rich will begin working in this position beginning May 1, 2014.

Jennifer received a B.A. degree from The Master’s College and the Masters of Sciences, Library and Information Science: Digital Library Concentration degree from Drexel University. She also holds a California multiple-subject teaching credential and brings seven years of experience teaching computers and information literacy at St. Pius V Catholic School where she also served as their staff technology coordinator.

Welcome, Jennifer Rich, MSLIS!

We are pleased to welcome Jennifer to the team of Darling Librarians!