The Strategic Planning Steering Committee (SPSC) has been charged with designing an actionable vision for the Penn Libraries informed by an analysis of trends across and beyond the library profession, an examination of the current state of our peer and aspirational peer institutions, and structured conversations with Penn Libraries staff about developing our collective goals for our organization.
Kate Lynch, Katie Rawson, and Mike Williams serve as the group’s facilitators. The titles of "Co-Chair" were jettisoned to better underscore the team effort of the group. The facilitators assist in coordinating events and guiding the group's efforts through the Strategic Planning timeline.
Mary Ellen Burd
Mary Ellen directs all aspects of the Penn Libraries’ communications and marketing efforts, supporting the Libraries’ strategic vision and growth. This includes ensuring a consistent identity for the Libraries by developing core branding for print and digital communications, directing the creation of all external communications content, and overseeing media relations.
Manuel de la Cruz Gutierrez
Based in the Holman Biotech Commons, Manuel's work centers on liaising with research communities, forging and strengthening relationships with research cores and other campus partners, and spearheading new and innovative services.
Lynne Farrington
As Senior Curator, Special Collections in the Kislak Center, Lynne acquires materials for the collections, working directly with antiquarian booksellers, collectors, and donors; work with students, faculty, and scholars building and using the collections; curate exhibitions and organize presentations, including conferences and symposia; and engage in outreach relating to the collections, including doing research, giving presentations, publishing articles, writing grants, and collaborating with colleagues at Penn and other institutions on larger projects.
Yvonne Harris
Hired as a stack attendant in 1981, Yvonne’s current position is Evening Building Superintendent for the VanPelt Library. Her responsibilities include oversight for building operation, facilities and security. Yvonne has also held positions in Vanpelt Circulation and Technical Processing. She also serves as the President of AFSCME Local 590, the labor union representing the library support staff.
Kate Lynch (facilitator)
Kate is a Senior Application Developer based in Library Technology Services (LTS), Penn Libraries' central IT department. Her primary areas of responsibility include developing software to support long-term preservation efforts across all departments, UI work on the catalog, and development/stewardship of MetriDoc, the IvyPlus software for metrics collection and analysis for library decision support.
Katie Rawson (facilitator)
Katie Rawson is the Director of Learning Innovation, providing oversight, coordination, and support for teaching and learning services across the Penn Libraries, for learning spaces like the Weigle Information Commons and the Education Commons, and for new pedagogies from active learning to immersive technologies.
Andy Sarno
Andy is responsible for much of the data gathering, analysis and assessment that underpins many of the Libraries' strategic decisions. He also maintains the Libraries' security and privacy assessment process and its census and is responsible for our reporting out of statistics to organizations such as ARL ACRL and IPEDS.
Jon Shaw
Jon Shaw is the Associate Vice Provost and Deputy University Librarian at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. In his role as Associate Vice Provost and Deputy University Librarian (AVP/DUL), Jon will serve as the chief deputy to the H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of Libraries. The AVP/DUL is the chief strategist and senior advisor to the Vice Provost and serves as the acting Vice Provost in the absence of the Vice Provost. The primary focus of the position is to support and assist the Vice Provost with the overall administration of the Penn Libraries and has primary responsibility for coordination of library operations, best practices, policies and procedures, and staff activities, including day-to-day oversight and long-term planning for organizational structure, services, staff, operations, and spaces. Jon will work with the Provost's office, the Libraries' Vice Provost and the Director of Development to ensure center goals are aligned with the University's strategic priorities.
Deb Brown Stewart
Deb Brown Stewart is the Head of the Museum Library, where she serves as Penn Libraries’ bibliographer for anthropology and archeology, answers subject-specific and general reference questions, designs library-based programming for both the Penn community and Penn Museum visitors, and oversees the departmental library’s collections, staff, and facility.
Michael Williams (facilitator)
Mike Williams has worked for the Penn Libraries for over 12 years, first as the Library Specialist for the Japanese and Korean collections, and currently as the Coordinator for Area Studies Technical Services. Mike and his team are responsible for the acquisitions, cataloging, and processing of materials in non-Latin and non-Western languages spanning Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the entirety of Asia.
Holly Zerbe
As Head of E-resources and Licensing: Monographs in the Acquisitions, Access and Licensing department, Holly manages the full lifecycle of e-resources from trial, licensing and acquisition through access set-up, discovery, troubleshooting and renewal. She works with e-resources in all formats but primarily focuses on ebooks and streaming videos for which she has established the library’s acquisitions workflows. She continues to expand the library’s collecting opportunities by establishing scalable processes to support new acquisition models and expanding vendor relationships.
