Dean's Welcome Message, 2025 - 2026
Faye A. Chadwell
Dean, University Libraries and Scholarly Communications
At Penn State University Libraries, we see ourselves as more than a resource—we are partners in learning, research, and discovery. Across every University campus and in collaboration with colleagues throughout academic and research libraries across North America, we strive to create meaningful connections that strengthen teaching and scholarship, fuel innovation, and inspire curiosity.
Over the next five years, we are advancing several key exciting strategic priorities for the University Libraries. These reflect both our institutional values and our shared commitment to your success. Two priorities have an important focus on student success: we seek to define and scope our teaching program to better prepare students for a complex information landscape. We also seek to elevate the library experience by reimagining our spaces and services to foster engagement and belonging. These two priorities demonstrate our dedication to creating an inclusive and diverse environment and to ensuring equitable access to library resources. We make a ton of content available to users in multiple formats and we want to make it easy for you to find that content. We invite you to check out our thousands of resources and connect with one of our many library experts. We really can make a difference in students’ academic success, future career aspirations, and lifelong learning activities. I invite you to visit us if you haven’t already done so.
Our other two priorities—empowering researchers and transforming our workforce—speak to our role in supporting Penn State’s world-class research enterprise. We have deep research collections, and if by chance we didn’t actually own or license a resource, our dynamic resource sharing networks have your needs covered. For us to be successful in helping you to be successful, we obviously need to invest in our people, culture, and capacity for innovation.
Together, these priorities will guide our work as we shape a library system that not only meets the needs of today’s students and scholars but also leads the way in defining what academic libraries can achieve—locally, nationally, and globally. We look forward to seeing you in our spaces. Have a terrific 2025-26.
Faye A. Chadwell
Dean of the University Libraries and Scholarly Communications