Provost Announces Retirement of the Dean of Library Services, Judith Lin Hunt

To the University Community:

Dean of Library Services Judith Lin Hunt has informed me of her decision to retire by end of the current academic year. Dean Hunt joined the University in August 1996 having been a Fellow of the  American Library Association/United States Information Service at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Since then she has led the continuing transformation of the Library’s services and resources, including expanding Sprague Library’s instructional program, adopting waves of new technologies, increasing resources to support the expanding curricular and research programs for an R2, NJ Public Research institution, and promoting the professional development of the librarians and staff of Sprague Library.  She initiated the University Authors program which recognizes the accomplishments of faculty and staff by an annual reception co-hosted by the Provost, publication of a booklet, a book exhibit, and a website. Most recently she led the efforts to establish an institutional repository, Digital Commons, that has provided the opportunity to showcase the University’s scholarly and creative works nationally and internationally, and which in a few short years saw more than 100,000 worldwide downloads of Montclair faculty and student research items. This was followed by the University’s participation with select NJ institutions in Research with NJ, New Jersey’s first research asset database. Dean Hunt has played a key role in promoting consortia library relationships among the higher education institutions of New Jersey and has held leadership positions in VALENJ (Virtual Academic Library Environment of NJ) and several other regional and national organizations including PALINET (now Lyrasis) and American Library Association’s International Relations Round Table. Never one to miss opportunities for service to students, for several years she enjoyed teaching the First Year Seminar class.

Please join me in extending Dean Hunt our profound thanks for providing superb library services to generations of Montclair State students and successive cohorts of faculty.

—
Willard Gingerich, PhD
Provost & Vice President
for Academic Affairs
Montclair State University