A search committee comprised of faculty and library professionals determined Tennant to be the best choice for the position, according to Tom Leonard, the university librarian.
Tennant’s plans as director for the library include several new initiatives, such as creating new courses that would incorporate the library’s resources more extensively and establishing internships for graduate students to assist curators and learn about the inner workings of the library.
“She will be a splendid director in part because no one I can think of took a greater interest in the Bancroft as a faculty member,” said William B. Taylor, professor emeritus of history, in an email. “She has always had students very much in mind.”
Tennant has been a faculty member since 1977 and will replace Charles Faulhaber, a professor emeritus of Spanish and Portuguese who vacated the position earlier this summer.
The 151-year-old library — which underwent a three-year, $64 million seismic retrofit and reconstruction that concluded in 2009 — houses a wide range of historical collections and artifacts, including the Mark Twain Papers and Project and the Free Speech Movement Archive.
Tennant also hopes to work with the School of Information and other areas of campus to discuss the generational differences between those who primarily use library print resources for research and those well-versed in digital resources.
Leonard said in an email that digital preservation of collections will be a challenge. Additionally, he said that the archive should be molded into “a window into how our present culture took shape.”
“Tennant has an enthusiasm for research with a hands-on approach to historical records; she easily communicates this winning attitude,” he said in the email. “The Director of the Bancroft is in the inspiration business, offering insights to anyone who tackles (its) great collections.”
Alisha Azevedo is the lead academics and administration reporter.
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