Leslie Reynolds, senior associate dean of CU Boulder University Libraries, was named interim dean of the Graduate School, replacing Ann Schmiesing, who was named senior vice provost for academic resource management. The changes were effective Jan. 1.
Before coming to CU Boulder, Reynolds was director of the West Campus Business Library and the Policy Sciences and Economics Library at Texas A&M University where she had also served as interim associate dean for user services. Reynolds came to CU Boulder in June 2013 as an associate dean and was quickly promoted to senior associate dean. She served as interim dean of University Libraries from July 2017 until July 2018.
Reynolds holds a master of library and information science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication from Drake University in Iowa, where she majored in public relations and advertising. In 2016, she was named a senior fellow in UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.
As interim dean, what will you bring to the graduate school during your six months in the position?
I come into this position as interim dean from an interdisciplinary perspective. Libraries by their nature are interdisciplinary, so my perspective is unique. The Graduate School is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary across all the schools and departments. I want to get a good understanding of the Graduate School and the needs of the graduate students and faculty, so I can help move initiatives forward and continue to make improvements in the short time I’m here.
What will you focus on first?
I want to meet as many people as I can and understand the perspectives of graduate students, the schools and colleges, what their concerns and hopes are, so I can make the new dean’s transition to the school as smooth as possible. I’m an informal person, and I want people to feel like they can come to me and talk to me. I want people to share with me what we can do together.
What led you to your library career?
After graduating, in 1992, I was looking for work in public relations for nonprofits. That was during the recession and no one was hiring. I got a rejection letter that said they’d hired someone with five years of experience, and the position paid $13,000 per year. I would have made more money working at a fast food restaurant with no experience.
I ended up getting a job working for Manpower and conducted informational interviews with librarians. I talked to a public librarian and librarians at Caterpillar Tractor, at Bradley University and at the Peoria Journal Star newspaper. The one thing they all had in common was a very high level of job satisfaction and the feeling they were having an impact on the work and lives of others. The recession pushed me away from where I was planning to go, but it put me where I needed to be. I loved the work. I took to it like a fish to water, like this is what I should have been doing the whole time.
What were you like as a kid growing up in Peoria, Illinois?
Reading and regular visits to the library were a big part of my childhood, although I wouldn’t say I was a bookish child. I was bit of a tomboy, playing in the woods behind our house and playing softball, basketball and volleyball. I played the violin and then switched to the bass when I was tall enough to hold one. What really drew me to the library was a sense of discovery for what I could find in books. That and the possibilities of the technology used in libraries. When I applied to library school in 1993, my essay was all about computers.
What is your philosophy on higher education?
When I think of higher education and what draws me to it, it’s that concept of discovery I like. When I was a grad student, I worked as a librarian for the Army Corps of Engineers, Cultural and Natural Resources unit, where I primarily researched the historical significance of facilities at Fort Benjamin Harrison, many of which now form a historic district that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
My first professional librarian position was in an engineering library that also served as a U.S. Patent and Trademark Depository. Patents are fascinating in the aspects of technological advancement, design and business intelligence. A patent is a detailed explanation for how something works and a window into the strategic directions of companies. There are technologies and information in patents that are not written about anywhere else in science literature. The concept of discovery started with engineering, but really it crosses all disciplines.
That was what was exciting about being in the library, because you bring all of that information everyone knew before you to help inspire what comes next. That’s part of what’s exciting about the Graduate School and all the amazing research that is happening across the schools and colleges.
Are there accomplishments you are particularly proud of?
The accomplishments I’m most proud of are the little things, like mentoring, that I can do to help move things forward for someone. It’s not just about the destination, but also the path that gets you there.
