The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) elected its 2024 Board of Directors on October 18 during the Fall 2023 Association Meeting. On January 1, 2024, Trevor A. Dawes, vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian at the University of Delaware, will begin a one-year term as president of ARL. The president serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, along with the vice president/president-elect, past president, and treasurer.
“ARL is an industry leader in policy and legislative advocacy, assessment, and leadership and diversity development,” said ARL Vice President/President-Elect Trevor Dawes. “Along with its other initiatives, the Association remains poised to convene, inform, shape, and influence the research and learning ecosystem. I am honored to be elected to this role as it demonstrates the trust and confidence my colleagues have placed in me to lead the Association. I believe deeply in the mission and vision of ARL and look forward to my continued work with the Board and our members on advancing our goals, especially in equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice.”
Dawes will succeed Susan Parker, university librarian at The University of British Columbia, as ARL president. Parker will continue to serve as a member of both the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee as past president through December 31, 2024.
During the Fall Meeting, the Association’s membership ratified the Board’s election of Rhea Ballard-Thrower as ARL vice president/president-elect for 2024. Ballard-Thrower, university librarian and dean of libraries at the University of Illinois Chicago, will become ARL president on January 1, 2025.
Two new Board members were elected by the membership: Evviva Weinraub Lajoie (2024–2026), vice provost for University Libraries, University at Buffalo, and Hilary Seo (2024–2026), dean of Library Services, Iowa State University.
Continuing elected members of the Board are: Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty (2023–2025), director, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives; Melissa Just (2021–2024), dean, University Library, University of Saskatchewan; Sara Lowman (2023–2024), vice provost and university librarian, Rice University; Lisa O’Hara (2021–2024), vice-provost (Libraries) and university librarian, University of Manitoba; Joseph Salem (2023–2025), the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs, Duke University; and Lorelei Tanji (2021–2024), university librarian, University of California, Irvine.
Also continuing to serve on the Board and Executive Committee for 2024 are Bob Fox (2018–2024), dean of University Libraries, University of Louisville, and ARL treasurer, and the ARL executive director (to be appointed), who serves in an ex officio, non-voting capacity.
The Board of Directors is the governing body of the Association and represents the interests of ARL member libraries in directing the business of the Association, including establishing operating policies, budgets, and fiscal oversight; modifying the ARL mission and objectives; and representing the Association to the community.
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of research libraries in Canada and the US whose vision is to create a trusted, equitable, and inclusive research and learning ecosystem and prepare library leaders to advance this work in strategic partnership with member libraries and other organizations worldwide. ARL’s mission is to empower and advocate for research libraries and archives to shape, influence, and implement institutional, national, and international policy. ARL develops the next generation of leaders and enables strategic cooperation among partner institutions to benefit scholarship and society. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
