Spring always means event season at Rutgers. At a few recent events, I’ve had the honor of delivering welcoming remarks. This has gotten me thinking about the many roles we play at Rutgers University Libraries.
In March, we had our second University Librarian’s Symposium Series event, focused on artificial intelligence in research. By convening experts from around the university—including our own librarians—this series reinforces the Libraries’ role as the university’s intellectual hub. Every day, we fuel learning, teaching, research, and the creation of new knowledge across this institution.
In April, we hosted Practicing Democracy in Action: A Community Conversation with the Rutgers Democracy Lab. This made perfect sense because of the crucial role libraries play in a functioning democracy—by providing equitable access to information, protecting the freedom to read and inquire, and functioning as a public space where people gather informally as equals (also known as a “third place,” a concept coined in 1989 by sociologist Ray Oldenburg).
Also in April, I was honored to introduce a panel of directors and curators of major Black archival collections—including the esteemed 14th Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden—during the two-day Networking Black Print: Reimagining Black Bibliography conference. This conference compelled us to confront the long-standing invisibility and fragmentation of Black print materials within traditional library catalogs and research systems and to honor the intellectual labor of Black librarians, bibliographers, and scholars who have long served as stewards, interpreters, and advocates for these collections. The Black Bibliography Project—supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Rutgers, and Yale—is a shining example of this.
I highlight these three events as a way of emphasizing the Libraries as the heart of the university’s intellectual life, as vital contributors to a democratic society, and as entities that actively define our historical and cultural record.
And when I say “the Libraries,” I mean “all of us.” As library personnel, the contributions we make—no matter what our specific roles are—have an exponential impact beyond what we think about day to day. It’s important to remind ourselves of this sometimes.
As always, I thank you for all you do. It matters more than you know.