The Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library has a new face now that Ann Whiteside took over as fine arts librarian two weeks ago.
In her new job, Whiteside is responsible for maintaining the collections and services provided to students and faculty members in the arts departments, such as architecture and art history that use the library.
A search committee, which began looking for a new fine arts librarian a year ago, sought someone with experience working in art libraries and developing both digital and traditional collections, said Jane Penner, music librarian and chairwoman of the search committee.
The new librarian also needed to work well with the faculty, be a strong manager and help the staff develop, Penner said.
Whiteside "had the best balance between offering services in digital materials and traditional print material," she said.
Whiteside's strong experience with visual resources and prior experience with supervision contributed to her selection, said Diane Walker, associate University librarian for user services.
Whiteside previously served as the visual resource librarian at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She also worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was part of a space planning team, a group of selected staff members that reviewed architecture plans on a weekly basis.
Whiteside brings 16 years of experience working in architecture libraries to her position.
In her new capacity, Whiteside will be involved with planning for the new arts library, which is part of the proposed arts precinct.
The idea for the arts precinct stems from the Fine Arts Commission of the Virginia 2020 proposals, which outline the University's goals for the next 20 years. The new library will combine the collections of the fine arts library and the current music library.
The new arts precinct would be designed to create a more cohesive community among the all of the University's arts departments.
"The idea is to create a vicinity where faculty and students in the various arts departments can work together more easily," Walker said.
Since taking her position, Whiteside has been "meeting a lot of people from the different library systems, the art department, and the School of Architecture, and I look forward to working with them in the coming years," she said.
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