New Dean Excited for His Latest Dream Job
Library Dean, David Richards, wants the Criss Library to be the market of the campus.
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David Richards had a good thing going for him when he was Head of Special Collections and Archives at Missouri State University.
“I was at Missouri State for 19 years and it was a dream job,” he said.
Richards began his tenure as Dean of Library Services for the University of Nebraska Omaha's (UNO) Criss Library on Jan. 19. For the first time in a while, he says he's found a new dream job.
“The search experience here was the most amazing and pleasant experience I have ever had,” he added. “This was the first position that I have seen since 1997 where I felt that this was a dream job.”
While at Missouri State, Richards was tasked with building the special collections and archives from the ground up. His former duties played an instrumental role in leading him to the position at UNO.
“Over the years I started working more with the deans,” he said. “A lot of special collections and archives work is dealing with the donors, the public, getting grant funding, and kind of seeing the big picture of how a library runs.”
“After a while I thought, ‘You know, I think I could run a library.’”
As Dean of the Criss Library, Richards has a vision geared towards research, new technology and the student experience.
“The modern library is really about a few things: Preserving created content that is produced by the university, its students, staff and faculty. Also, preserving the local history of the surrounding region. That is very important now.”
The other side, Richards said, is about creating an experience that students will remember and make them want to return. Students no longer go to libraries for the sole purpose of checking out books. Circulation numbers are down at most libraries, but gate numbers are up. Students are using library facilities more than ever.
“I want the library to be is sort of like the town plaza, the market of the campus,” he said.
One of the biggest selling points for Richards on his campus visit was the Creative Production Lab (CPL). He said he hopes to add some more interactive technologies to the CPL in the future.
“The CPL is a real gem,” he added. “I hope more students discover that and find time to use it.”
On the research side, the new Dean says the library is going to move forward with the rest of the university as it aspires to reach 20,000 students by 2020.
“We are seeing UNO change. This is going to be a research university. So the library needs to up its game to help those doctoral students and faculty. We are really looking to this new era of bringing more of that scholarly information into the building.”