Barbara Rockenbach, who has enhanced the educational and data infrastructure of Yale Library and increased access to its iconic spaces and collections since arriving on campus in 2020, has been reappointed as the Stephen F. Gates ’68 University Librarian, President Maurie McInnis and Provost Scott Strobel announced on Wednesday.
The reappointment, which was approved by the Yale Corporation, recognizes Rockenbach’s success over the past 4 1/2 years in supporting innovative research and teaching for students, faculty, and researchers, McInnis and Strobel wrote in a message to the Yale Library community.
Rockenbach’s impact began almost immediately after her arrival, they wrote.
“As the university navigated the pandemic, Barbara embraced the challenge of adapting library services, while ensuring that the libraries were among the first spaces to reopen to students,” McInnis and Strobel wrote. “Many innovations adopted during this time — including improved remote access to library resources, expanded online offerings, and book delivery by mail — have become part of the library’s regular services, benefitting users across campus and advancing priorities such as collection digitization.”
The Yale University Library is composed of 500-plus staff members, more than a dozen libraries and locations, vast physical collections, and extensive electronic resources.
In addition to enhancing library services at Yale, Rockenbach has improved the technology infrastructure that is crucial to providing necessary tools and platforms for research and enriching the academic experience for students and faculty, McInnis and Strobel said. Following an evaluation of the technology that supports all Yale library operations and services, Rockenbach introduced the first phase of a multi-year migration to a more modern system, which will be implemented in July.
The new system will also underpin emerging forms of research support, they wrote. Partnering with colleagues across campus, Rockenbach has developed a multi-year strategy to increase support for data-intensive research for all disciplines. Under her leadership, the library established the Computational Methods and Data (CMD) department and formed shared-staff partnerships with the Data Intensive Social Science Center (a university-wide hub that supports data intensive social science research) and the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions (a hub for research, training, and infrastructure in the fields of geospatial science, data, and analysis).
Most recently, the library launched the Yale Dataverse, a critical new technology infrastructure to acquire, make available, and preserve data sets. Also, members of the library staff are now collaborating with Yale’s Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning and other campus partners to develop AI tools, guidance, and support.
“While identifying and responding to emerging research needs, Barbara has also invested in Yale Library’s historic strengths,” McInnis and Strobel noted.
Under her leadership, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library has been reorganized to support cross-collection collaboration, new technology infrastructure, and shared best practices among the seven special collections at Yale Library (the Beinecke Library; the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library; the Divinity Library; the Gilmore Music Library; the Haas Family Arts Library; the Lewis Walpole Library; and Manuscripts & Archives).
“This reorganization has advanced the library’s outreach and partnerships in New Haven and introduced new approaches to steward the collections in a manner that meets current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs,” McInnis and Strobel said.
As university librarian, they added, Rockenbach has also reaffirmed Yale Library’s continued commitment to collecting, preserving, and providing access to print collections — a commitment matched by only a few university libraries in the world.
To support this, Yale Library recently joined Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and the research division of the New York Public Library in a nonprofit storage and access consortium known as ReCAP (Research Collections and Preservation Consortium), which preserves the collections of its member libraries and empowers its members to share their research materials. In addition to long-term storage options for print collections, ReCAP provides immediate access to a shared collection of 8 million new and unique titles that Yale does not own.
As Sterling Memorial Library prepares for its centennial in 2031, Rockenbach has begun the work of leading the library in evaluating ways to meet the evolving needs of students, faculty, and staff. Through programming and spaces, including the creation of the Hanke Exhibition Gallery and the renovation of the Linonia and Brothers Room, she has reinforced the library’s central role in fostering community and supporting the academic enterprise on our campus, McInnis and Strobel wrote.
“There is a critical balance between tradition and innovation that keeps the library at the heart of the university,” Rockenbach said. “We are committed to supporting a culture of curiosity and fostering the creation of new knowledge.
“It’s an honor to pursue this work with so many talented and dedicated colleagues and a community of students, faculty, and researchers that extends across campus and around the world.”
In their message to the community, McInnis and Strobel expressed gratitude to members of the Yale community who shared their thoughtful comments during the reappointment process.
“Colleagues from across the university expressed appreciation for Barbara’s ability to both honor the historic significance of Yale Library and introduce innovations that support the continued growth of educational, research, and cross-disciplinary programs at Yale,” they wrote. “Many also remarked on her incredible skill at building collaborations with those within and outside of Yale and her service-oriented approach to leadership.”
