Kristine Brancolini

Dean, University Libraries

When Kristine Brancolini began her job as dean of university libraries in July 2006, she came to an institution with a major library of almost 400,000 volumes and extensive archives and special collections.

But she also came to an institution in the midst of planning for the construction of the new William H. Hannon Library, a facility that will feature state-of-the-art technology, a coffee shop for informal meeting and study, and areas tailored to faculty needs.

“I cannot wait for the opportunity to showcase our collections, services and expert staff in the new library,” Brancolini says. “The richness already exists in the Charles Von der Ahe Library, and I plan to spend the next three years improving the services and collections we already offer.”

Prior to coming to LMU, Brancolini was the director of the Digital Library Program at Indiana University-Bloomington. She has worked as a librarian for more than three decades, and has written about video and multimedia collections as well as digital library education and development.

“What I like about being a librarian is the involvement in the pursuit of knowledge,” she says. “I like the collection-building process, and I like thinking about creating resources that will be used by people in the future. It’s a really fun job.”

But Brancolini understands that building a first-rate library involves much more than simply putting together a vast collection of information resources.

“As we plan and build the new library, we are mindful that students come to libraries for a variety of reasons, not just information,” she says. “They come because they have positive associations with libraries and with the spaces within them. They like the comfort, and they like the human contact. They like the fact that when they’re looking for information and they reach a dead end, there is someone there to help.”