University Librarian David Ferriero is preparing to check out of Duke, and the University is seeking to replace the man who has left his stamp on more than just books in Duke's libraries.
"The Duke Library has a very strong national reputation now, which is due in large measure to David's leadership," said Alex Roland, the chair of the search committee for the Ferriero's replacement and also the chair of the committee that hired Ferriero in 1996.
Ferriero will become the Andrew W. Mellon Director and chief executive of the research libraries at the New York Public Library Sept. 1, when he steps into his new office with a view of the famed marble lions on 42nd Street.
But Ferriero isn't ready to close the book on Duke just yet--he still wants to see through several major projects. By the end of July, the library system will have a new online system, and Duke will finally switch from the Dewey Decimal System to the more common Library of Congress system of organization.
But the business aspects of the library are not Ferriero's passion. "I do technology and I do everything else but at heart, I'm a humanist," Ferriero laughed, gesturing to the shelves of leather bound volumes behind him. "Hence all the books."
Libraries may be about books, but Ferriero has spent much of his time fundraising for those books--the library raised almost $50 million during the Campaign for Duke. As Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs, Ferriero has also navigated of the library's path between print and electronic resources, developing both areas and creating foci of intersection.
The Center for Instructional Technology, designed to help faculty and staff employ relevant technology, was founded with Ferriero's help. He is partially responsible for the ubiquity of Blackboard in classes as well.
Ferriero oversaw the construction of the climate-controlled storage facility on Briggs Road that will allow Duke's holdings to grow boundlessly in the years to come. Now he is concentrating on expanding the physical space of Perkins and leaving a library poised for substantial interior renovations as well.
"I'm always embarrassed when I see a group of parents and students here because the facilities are so bad," Ferriero said.
Even as construction hammers outside Perkins' hallways, the University is searching to find someone to take Ferriero's place.
"He has been the practically perfect librarian, and it is such a complex job that it is very difficult to explain all the things that he has to do and understand," said Roland, professor of history. "If we could hire another David Ferriero, we'd hire him in a heartbeat."
Provost Peter Lange initiated an "accelerated process for the search" for the new University Librarian, he told library staff in an e-mail, as a response to the competitive market for top librarians.
The committee will report back June 15 either with a list of potential candidates or a recommendation to return the search to a longer, more standard process.
The new librarian will have to deal with many of the same issues Ferriero has handled during his term, including the rising cost of academic journals. Duke has recently begun to explore creating an online publishing alternative to allay the costs of journal subscriptions. The library will also look to increase and consolidate its science and technology offerings, as the University undertakes substantial development in the sciences
.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity to do it right for the sciences and engineering," Ferriero said.
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