Parks Library will welcome Beth McNeil from Purdue as the new ISU library dean this July.

McNeil has made her career as a librarian and an associate dean at prestigious universities throughout the Midwest, most recently serving as a professor and the associate dean for academic affairs at Purdue University in Indiana.

McNeil said although she loves and grew up in the Midwest, she didn’t necessarily keep her career here on purpose.

“I’ve always just followed interesting jobs,” she said. “It isn’t that I decided not to go anywhere else … but it makes Iowa State seem familiar in some ways.”

McNeil said she enjoys the duties of a librarian.

“I love helping people find the information they need to solve whatever problem they’re looking for, helping people find information to solve their general problems, helping researchers find information to solve the world’s problems, helping students to find information to be successful during college; those are all really strong reasons for me to stay in this field,” McNeil said.

Joyce Garnett, current interim library dean, has been serving at Iowa State since September. Native to Canada, Garnett accepted the interim position shortly after retiring from her position at the University of Western Ontario.

“The general deanship means being the leader for the library, to help people move along and work with projects,” Garnett said. “Specifically, to make sure all the monies are there and the people we need to partner with are aware of what we’re doing. It’s a bit of a cheerleader, a bit of a fundraiser and a champion for the university.”

Garnett said Iowa State has recently committed to an online library software called “ALMA,” which will allow students across the state access to university resources through the universities of Iowa and Northern Iowa, as well as Iowa State, all at once.

“It’s all cloud-based and creates a Google-like environment as far as the interface goes,” she said.

Garnett said Purdue University has participated in some of the beta testing of this software, and that McNeil’s experience with it will be a great benefit to the library system at Iowa State.

Other possible projects McNeil mentioned were consolidating all of the services at the library to a single desk, creating a device-loaning program, so students could check out various electronics to use while at the library and extending library services to ISU alumni.

Provost Jonathan Wickert said the duties of the library dean are more extensive than some people realize.

“The dean of the library is in charge not only of the Parks Library, but also the libraries that we have in the College of Design, the College of Veterinary Medicine and in Mathematics,” he said. “There are approximately 100 employees of the library. The library has a budget of over $200,000, and when you really think about it, the library is at the heart of the university.”

Although the final candidates for the deanship were all excellently qualified, and “wonderful people” as McNeil put it, Garnett seemed to stand far and away in her colleagues’ memories.

“Beth impressed everybody from the start with her vision for how the library can support the success of students, support the research of our faculty and really just be a welcoming focal point for the campus community through study, research and special events,” Wickert said. “She brings great experience from great institutions, and I think she’s coming at a really important time in the history of our library.”