Texas Digital Library is grateful for the guidance provided by our member-led boards. While we are sad to see colleagues leave our member institutions, we look forward to getting to work with new leaders joining us this year. Below are just a few changes happening on our Member Board and Governing Board in Fall 2021.
GRATEFUL FOR THEIR SERVICE
We are saying goodbye to Deans from two of TDL’s member institutions.
David Carlson, Dean of Texas A&M University libraries, is retiring at the end of the summer. David has been a crucial partner, advisor, sounding board, and cheerleader for the TDL consortium since he joined our governing board in 2012.
Joan Heath, Dean of libraries at Texas State University, is retiring after over 30 years of service there. Joan has always been an excellent thinking partner, and she was instrumental in helping TDL recalibrate our membership model to offer more flexibility in fees and service offerings.
And we say goodbye to Mark Smith, Director of the Texas State Library and Archives. Mark has served as an ex officio member of our governing board and, after 42 years of service in libraries, Mark is set to retire at the end of August 2021. Mark’s candidness, humor, advice, and insights lent a broader perspective to discussions with our governing board.
David, Joan, and Mark, you will be greatly missed by all of us at TDL. We thank you for all you’ve done for the Texas Digital Library and the members of our consortium!
WELCOME TO TDL
This year, we are thrilled to welcome three new library directors and deans to our boards.
We welcome Athena Jackson, new Dean of Libraries to the University of Houston and member of TDL’s governing board. Athena joined UH in February 2021, and we are so excited to get to work with her. Her enthusiasm is infectious!
We also want to congratulate Julie Mosbo Ballestro who was named Interim Dean of Texas A&M Libraries as they recruit a new dean to replace David Carlson. We have worked with Julie often throughout the years and cannot wait to collaborate with her in this new role.
And we welcome a familiar face as the new Dean of Libraries to Texas State University. Kelly Visnak joined Texas State University in August 2021 after serving as associate university librarian for scholarly communications at the University of Texas at Arlington. We love getting to work with Kelly and can’t wait to officially welcome her to our member board this fall.
You can learn more about Texas Digital Library’s board structure and governance as well as find links to meeting notes and more here.
ABOUT TDL
Texas Digital Library is a consortium of library and archives professionals that propels the Academy forward by maintaining our past and preparing for the future. Membership in TDL is open to any academic library. Find out more by visiting https://main.tdl.org/members/membership/ or email us at info@tdl.org.