Deborah Jakubs to Head Duke Libraries

Deborah Jakubs, director of collections services for Duke University's Perkins System Libraries, has been selected to become the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and vice provost for library affairs, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead and Provost Peter Lange announced Tuesday.

The combined book collections of Duke University's Library system, and the separately administered libraries serving the schools of business, divinity, law and medicine, total more than five million volumes, making it one of the largest academic library systems in the nation.

Jakubs' appointment takes effect Jan. 4. She succeeds David S. Ferriero, who on Sept. 1 became the Andrew W. Mellon Director and chief executive of the research libraries at the New York Public Library.

"Deborah brings great experience and vision to the leadership of our library system," Lange said. "Her knowledge of Duke and her management experience will serve Duke well as the library builds facilities and programs for a future in which scholars and students capitalize on new technologies to seek information in new and innovative ways. She is also a multi-lingual Latin American scholar who is well-suited to help ensure that the library is central to the university's internationalization programs."

In her new role, Jakubs will be responsible for administering eight libraries as well as the university archives and its records management program. She also will oversee the Center for Instructional Technology, which promotes the effective application of information technology in teaching and learning across the university.

In addition, Jakubs will preside over the completion of the renovation and expansion of the William R. Perkins Library on Duke's West Campus, the largest and most centrally located library at the university. The centerpiece of the project, which will cost $52 million exclusive of upcoming renovations, is the five-story Bostock Library, which is under construction adjacent to Perkins and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2005. The Karl and Mary Ellen von der Heyden Pavilion, which is being built between Perkins and the languages building, is also scheduled for completion next summer.

An extensive renovation of Perkins, to begin in the fall of 2005, will include an information commons and a digital production center. The information commons will integrate print and electronic resources and digital capabilities in an environment in which library staff will provide one-on-one assistance or work with students and faculty in group settings to integrate technology into their research. Officials said the digital production center will convert distinctive library holdings and other campus resources into electronic formats for greater usability and accessibility.

Lange said Jakubs' leadership in planning for the Perkins' expansion and renovation and her experience in both print and electronic information make her the 'right person to lead the libraries' efforts to address important challenges in integrating research, teaching and learning in the digital age" as Duke moves toward a conversion to the Library of Congress classification system.

Brodhead emphasized Jakubs' commitment to students and the balance she brings to print and electronic media. "Deborah is a scholar and proven administrator who will champion the interests of students as well as faculty," Brodhead said. "She has shown great enthusiasm for new electronic resources even as she has worked to build on Duke's traditionally strong collections of primary materials. As a historian, she has great respect for the unique place of print resources, but she also is excited about the new opportunities and breadth of access offered by electronic resources."

Jakubs said she was honored to be selected to succeed Ferriero and to lead Duke's libraries "at a time when academic libraries face great challenges and even greater opportunities to advance scholarship. Our libraries must become an even more attractive destination for students, a place that facilitates learning, teaching and the production of scholarship while creating intellectual community through public programming."

Jakubs earned a Ph.D. in Latin American history from Stanford University in 1986, and also received a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

In addition to holding positions of increasing responsibility since joining Duke in 1983, she has served as associate director and director of the Duke-UNC Program in Latin American Studies. Jakubs was the director of the Global Resources Program of the Association of Research Libraries from 1996 to 2002.

Jakubs has published numerous articles in scholarly and library journals and has made a number of presentations on library and information technology issues, as well as in Latin American studies.

Lange said that in her position as collections services director, Jakubs has shown "creativity in meeting the diverse needs of research and teaching and in collaborating effectively with academic administrators and faculty."

In her current position, she is responsible for the five departments that make up collections services, which together comprise nearly half the Perkins System staff. She oversees the $8 million collections budget and more than $1.6 million in annual income from endowments. She supervises the work of 35 librarians, who also work in partnership with the staff of the Center for Instructional Technology.