New Faces in the Libraries

In the year since our last Mirabile Dictu, several new faces have joined the Library staff. These individuals come to the College from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, contributing to a well-rounded team of librarians at Bryn Mawr. We would like to extend a warm welcome to the latest members of our staff and introduce the friendly faces that you will find at the Libraries.

Our most recent colleague, Eric Pumroy, Head of Special Collections and Seymour Adelman Rare Book Librarian, has just joined us in March from the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. There he served first as Director of Library and Archives and then as Director of Programs and Information Services. During his tenure at the Balch he directed an outreach program for new immigrant communities, formed a research fellowship program, and established a monthly seminar on issues of immigration and ethnic life in America. Eric's recent exhibition, "Live Like the Banyan Tree," which focuses on the Indian-American immigrant experience in Philadelphia, can be seen at www.libertynet.org/balch/.

For the past year Eric has also served as President of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL). He led their effort to develop Web-based catalogs for consortium members, and is coordinating training sessions for archivists to use the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) format for the conversion of finding aids into searchable electronic Web resources. We are very happy that Eric has decided to lead Special Collections here at Bryn Mawr.

Mark Colvson, Electronic Information Resources Coordinator/Reference Librarian, joined the Library staff in February of 1998. Mark is Library liaison to the Sociology Department, and has been the force behind the Library's new Website design (www.brynmawr.edu/Library/). He was also instrumental in the coordination of our recent Information Fair for students and alumnae. You can read more about the Libraries' Information Fair in "From the Director" on page 2. Mark's undergraduate degree is from Haverford College.

Krista Ivy, Reference Librarian at the Rhys Carpenter Library, came to us this past August, just after completing her M.L.S. degree at the University at Buffalo. Krista also holds the M.A. degree in History of Art from Binghamton University. In addition to her reference responsibilities, she works very closely with the History of Art Department representing their interests in Library purchasing decisions.

Abigail Pile, Cataloging Librarian, started last September. She received her M.L.S. from Drexel University in December 1998 and is coming back to Bryn Mawr, where she earned an A.B. in Russian and also served as an intern in the Special Collections Department. Abigail, in addition to her duties as Cataloging Librarian, assists in collection development for the Department of Russian and works very closely with Special Collections. She is the editor of Mirabile Dictu.

Jean Miller, Assistant to the Director of Libraries, arrived in the Director's Office just before receiving her M.L.S. from Drexel University in December. Jean had been Reserve Book Room Supervisor at the W.W. Hagerty Library at Drexel University and now works on special projects that originate in the Director's Office. She often coordinates Friends of the Library events and publications.

Finally, Julie Diana, Assistant Systems Librarian for the Tri-College Consortium, came to us from Syracuse University where she recently earned her M.L.S. Julie spends most of her time at Bryn Mawr, but is often at Haverford and Swarthmore working on the many projects that the consortium office supports.