Yale University Library News

Appointments of two new Associate University Librarians at the Yale Library

The Yale University Library recently announced the addition of two new leadership positions within the library system – the Associate University Librarian (AUL) for Arts and Humanities, and the AUL for Science, Social Science and Medicine. The two new positions will join a team that reports to the University Librarian and oversees the programs and operations of the 15 libraries, as well as the management of over 550 staff that currently make up the Yale Library. Jill Parchuck, previously Director of the Center for Science and Social Science Information (CSSSI), will hold the title of AUL for Science, Social Science and Medicine. In addition to oversight of Science and Social Science Libraries and the Map Department, Jill’s portfolio will also expand to include liaising with the Medical Library. This strategy is aligned with the University’s desire for significantly greater collaboration between the sciences and medicine at Yale. Jill was the Director of Yale’s Social Science Libraries from 2007-2011, during which time she co-led planning efforts for the creation of the CSSSI and the transfer of materials from the Mudd Library. She currently serves on the University’s President’s Award Committee, the ITS Research Technologies Committee, and is the outgoing chair of the Library Promotion Committee. She chaired the Library’s Cost-Savings Initiatives Work Group in 2010. Jill has been a member of the Academic Business Library Directors’ group since 1993 and was chair of the Group from 2001-02. Prior to her time at Yale, Jill was on the staff of the Columbia University Libraries as the Head of Business and Economics Library and Head of Original Monographs Cataloging. Jill was a member of Yale’s team participating in the ARL/DLF eScience Institute in 2011 and she was a fellow in the Association of Research Libraries’ Research Library Leadership Fellows Program from 2004- 2006. She holds a Masters in Library Science and a Masters in English Literature from the State University of New York at Albany and a B.A. in English from LeMoyne College. Allen Townsend, the former Director of the Arts Area Libraries, will hold the title of AUL for Arts & Humanities. In addition to his current oversight of the Arts and Music libraries, Allen’s portfolio will expand to include the Divinity Library and the departments of Humanities Collections & Research Education (HCRE) and International Collections & Research Support (ICRS). This combination acknowledges the frequency with which the research interests of students and faculty cross the organizational boundaries of libraries and departments throughout the arts and humanities. Allen Townsend's career in libraries spans more than thirty years. Before coming to Yale, he was well known in the field of art museum librarianship, serving as director for the libraries of the Dallas Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. He has been an active leader in the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) including a three-year term on the ARLIS/NA Executive Board, during which he served as President of the Society. He has published articles in ARLIS/NA's peer-reviewed journal Art Documentation, as well as other Society publications, including Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship. Since coming to Yale in 2007 as the Arts Library director, Allen's leadership roles have included service as Chair and Co-Chair of the Library Management Committee, Chair of the Technical Services Task Force (2010), and a 2-year term on the Library Executive Committee. He is the current Chair of the Promotion Review Committee and has held the position of Arts Area Libraries Director since 2011. Allen holds a Masters in Library Science from the University of North Texas and a Masters in Music from Southern Methodist University. Together, Jill and Allen will work in concert to continually refine Yale Library’s research support services, outreach programs, liaison responsibilities, collection strategies and instruction services in support of the University’s teaching and research missions across all of the disciplines.

External link: