Sarah Thomas (librarian)

Last updated

Sarah Elizabeth Thomas is an American librarian best known for her leadership positions in a number of research libraries. In May 2013 it was announced that she had been appointed vice president for Harvard University Library; she took up the post in August 2013. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Thomas was raised in Haydenville, Massachusetts, United States, and graduated from Smith College in 1970. She qualified as a professional librarian at Simmons College in 1973 and received her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1982 for a thesis on the Austrian author Hugo von Hofmannsthal and his relations with his publisher. [3]

Career

Between 1996 and 2006, Thomas held the positions of adjunct professor of German and Carl A. Kroch University Librarian at Cornell University. Between 2007 and 2013, she held the office of Bodley's Librarian and Director of the Bodleian Libraries [4] at the University of Oxford. As Bodley's Librarian, she was responsible for the operation of the largest university libraries in the United Kingdom, and one of the major research libraries in the world. Her previous experience in major United States research libraries included Harvard's Widener Library, Johns Hopkins, the National Agricultural Library, the Library of Congress, and the Research Libraries Group.

Accomplishments

She is the first woman to have held the position of Bodley's Librarian, and the second librarian (after her predecessor, Reginald Carr) also to have been in charge of the university's integrated library service (known as "Oxford University Library Services" when it was established in 2000, but renamed "Bodleian Libraries" on March 2, 2010 – Bodley's 465th birthday). [5] [6] Thomas, an American, is also the first foreign librarian to have run the Bodleian. [7] In an interview she gave shortly after taking up the position, she recalled visiting Oxford when she was working at the Library of Congress to speak at the Sheldonian Theatre. She said that she remembered thinking "I could just die then and be happy". [8] When recruitment consultants approached her about applying for the post and she saw the job description, she said, "it was love at first sight. It was everything I wanted to do, but bigger. Integration, the digital library, the estates programme, the opportunity to be inside a truly magnificent institution and have a role at a pivotal moment in its history – that was just too enticing for me." [8]

In 2007, Thomas was awarded the Melvil Dewey Medal by the American Library Association, and in 2010 was awarded the Smith College Medal. [9] She was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2013. [10]

Personal life

Thomas is married to Peter B. Hirtle, an archivist. They have two sons.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodleian Library</span> Research library of the University of Oxford

The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library. Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom, and under Irish law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bodley</span> English diplomat and scholar

Sir Thomas Bodley was an English diplomat and scholar who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas James</span> English librarian and Anglican clergyman

Thomas James was an English librarian and Anglican clergyman, the first librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Ovenden</span> British librarian and author (born 1964)

Richard Ovenden is a British librarian and author. He currently serves as the 25th Bodley's Librarian in the University of Oxford, having been appointed in 2014. Ovenden also serves as the Director of the Bodleian Library's Centre for the Study of the Book and holds a Professorial Fellowship at Balliol College. Ovenden is a trustee of the Chawton House Library and vice-chair of the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation. In 2009, he was elected third chair of the Digital Preservation Coalition, succeeding Ronald Milne and Dame Lynne Brindley in a post he held until 2013. and returning in 2015 to the honorary position of President of the DPC. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2015. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, having been elected in 2008.

Robert Shackleton CBE was an English French language philologist and librarian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Rand</span> American philosopher

Rose Rand was an Austrian-American logician and philosopher. She was a member of the Vienna Circle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodley's Librarian</span> Head of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England

The head of the Bodleian Library, the main library at the University of Oxford, is known as Bodley's Librarian: Sir Thomas Bodley, as founder, gave his name to both the institution and the position. Although there had been a university library at Oxford since about 1320, it had declined by the end of the 16th century. It was "denuded" of its books in 1550 in the time of King Edward VI when "superstitious books and images" that did not comply with the prevailing Anglican view were removed. Poor management and inadequate financial resources have also been blamed for the state of the library. In the words of one history of the university, "as a public institution, the Library had ceased to function." Bodley volunteered in 1598 to restore it; the university accepted the offer, and work began soon afterwards. The first librarian, Thomas James, was selected by Bodley in 1599. The Bodleian opened in 1602, and the university confirmed James in his post. Bodley wanted the librarian to be "some one that is noted and known for a diligent student, and in all his conversation to be trusty, active, and discrete, a graduate also and a linguist, not encumbered with marriage, nor with a benefice of Cure". James, however, was able to persuade Bodley to let him marry and become Rector of St Aldate's Church, Oxford.

Sir Herbert Henry Edmund Craster was a British librarian, who served as Bodley's Librarian from 1931 to 1945.

Erik Richard Sidney Fifoot MC was a British librarian who served as Bodley's Librarian, the head of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, from 1979 to 1981.

John William Jolliffe was a British librarian and academic who was Bodley's Librarian from 1982 until his death.

David George Vaisey CBE is a British librarian who was Bodley's Librarian from 1986 until 1996.

Sir Arthur Ernest Cowley, was a British librarian who was Bodley's Librarian from 1919 until a couple of months before his death. He was also a leading Semitic scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Nicholson (librarian)</span> British author and Bodleys Librarian

Edward Williams Byron Nicholson was a British author and Bodley's Librarian. He was the head of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, from 1882 until his death in 1912. Nicholson was also an early advocate of animal rights.

Reginald Philip Carr is an English librarian, who was Bodley's Librarian from 1997 until his retirement in 2006. He is a member of the Christadelphian church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodleian Libraries</span> Group of research libraries at the University of Oxford

The Bodleian Libraries are a collection of 28 libraries that serve the University of Oxford in England, including the Bodleian Library itself, as well as many other central and faculty libraries. As of the 2021-2022 report year, the libraries collectively hold 13.5 million printed items, as well as numerous other objects and artefacts.

Brian Twyne was an English antiquary and an academic at the University of Oxford. After being educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and becoming a Fellow of the college in 1606, he published his one main work, a history of the university, in 1608. This was designed to prove that Oxford was older than Cambridge University, and has been described by a modern writer as a "remarkable achievement for a young scholar of twenty-eight."

Francis Wise was an academic, archivist, librarian and antiquarian at the University of Oxford.

Simon Bailey was the Keeper of the Archives at the University of Oxford in England until March 2020.

Emma Dench is an English ancient historian, classicist, and academic administrator. She has been McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard University since 2014, and Dean of its Graduate School of Arts and Sciences since 2018. Her previous positions include Professor of Ancient History at Birkbeck College, University of London and Professor of Classics and of History at Harvard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher de Hamel</span> British librarian and specialist in medieval manuscripts

Christopher Francis Rivers de Hamel is a British academic librarian and expert on mediaeval manuscripts. He is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and former Fellow Librarian of the Parker Library. His book Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts is the winner of the Duff Cooper Prize for 2016 and the Wolfson History Prize for 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Sarah Thomas to lead Harvard Library". University of Oxford. May 20, 2013. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Sarah Thomas Appointed Vice President for the Harvard Library | Harvard Library Portal". Library.harvard.edu. May 19, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  3. ↑ Sarah Thomas, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Anton Kippenberg of the Insel-Verlag: a case study of author-publisher relations Ph.D. thesis, Johns Hopkins University, 1982.
  4. ↑ "About Sarah E. Thomas". University of Oxford. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  5. ↑ "OULS changes name to Bodleian Libraries". Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. March 2, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Libraries". University of Oxford. April 1, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  7. ↑ Garner, Richard (February 21, 2007). "A double-first at the Bodleian library as US woman takes over". The Independent . Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  8. 1 2 Ferry, Georgina (2007). "New Broom at the Bod". Oxford Today . Public Affairs Directorate, University of Oxford. 19 (3). Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Smith College Medalists". Smith.edu. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Newly Elected - April 2013 | American Philosophical Society". Amphilsoc.org. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.