Rising prices for materials, trends toward electronic publishing and limited space are some of the challenges facing whoever is chosen from the five candidates vying to be the UNM General Library's new dean.
Provost Brian Foster announced the candidates April 8. A series of open interview forums began April 9 and will run through April 30. He said he hopes a candidate will be chosen by mid-May. The candidate selected will replace Robert Migneault, who was dean from 1987 to fall 2001.
Like libraries nationwide, UNM suffers from rising costs for books and online services, and the new dean will have to meet those challenges head on, Foster said.
"The price of materials keeps going up faster than appropriations," he said. "Periodicals are just skyrocketing."
The dean's first duty will be to prepare the library for the future, Foster said.
The candidates are:
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- Camila Alire, who retired this year as dean of the Colorado State University Libraries. As dean and a professor from 1997 to 2002, Alire was responsible for administration, public and technical services, library technology services, planning, archives and special collections, human resources, fiscal services and development. She earned a master's degree in library science from the University of Denver and a doctorate in education from the University of Northern Colorado.
From 1991 to 1997, Alire was dean and director of the Auraria Library, which serves three institutions on one urban campus at the University of Colorado at Denver. She also has published numerous articles about diversity and leadership. Alire's interview was on April 9.
- William Aguilar, who has been vice president of Information Resources and Technology at California State University in San Bernardino since 1992. He earned a doctorate in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and master's degree in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
As vice president of Information Resources, he is responsible for an $11 million budget for eight departments. He also has been university librarian at the same institution. Prior to that, from 1982 to 1988, he was the library services director at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn. He is a founding member of Advanced Networking for Minority Serving Institutions, Southern California Region. Aguilar's interview was on April 11.
- John Meador, who has been dean and professor of the University Libraries at the University of Mississippi since 1993. He earned a master's degree in English and folklore and a master's in library science from the University of Texas at Austin. He also studied educational administration at the University of Utah.
Between 1984 and 1993, while library services dean at Southwest Missouri State, Meador founded the Friends of the Library and oversaw to a 300 percent budget increase and an acquisition expenditure increase of 400 percent. Meador's interview will be at 4 p.m. April 23 in the Continuing Education Building, Room C.
- James L. Mullins, who has been associate director for administration at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology libraries since 2000. He oversees a $17 million budget, human resources and facilities planning. He earned a master's degree in library science from the University of Iowa and a doctorate in library administration from Indiana University.
From 1996 to 2000, he was university librarian and director of Falvey Memorial Library at Villanova University. He was director of library services at Indiana University South Bend from 1978 to 1996. He published on the faculty status of librarians, a study of Web-based resources and a study on cooperation between library and computer services. Mullins' interview will take place at 4 p.m. April 26 in the Continuing Education Building, Classroom H.
- Barbara J. Ford, who has been the assistant commissioner in charge of the central research library- which has more than nine million items- at the Chicago Public Library since 1998. Ford earned a master's degree in library science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a master's in international relations from Tufts University.
She was a professor and executive director of University Library Services at the Virginia Commonwealth University from 1991 to 1998. She was the American Library Association president from 1997 to 1998. Last summer, for American Libraries, she wrote an article about taking care of business online. She also has published articles about managing library finances.
Ford's interview will be at 4 p.m. April 30 in Classroom H of the Continuing Education Building.
Foster said that the library dean search committee, which comprises about 10 faculty and library staff members, will interview the candidates.
The interviews are open to the public.
