Nationwide search should find Weber’s replacement by July

After serving as dean of Library and Media Services for 10 years, Mark Weber has announced that he will retire from the university in June.

“It’s time to move on and do other things,” said Weber, who came to Kent State in 1991 and became dean in 1999. “But this is a great job, and the best thing of all is working with a great staff.”

The university has assembled a search committee to conduct a national search for qualified applicants to take the position. The search will begin this week.

According to the library’s Web site, the ideal candidate will have “a compelling vision of the academic library of the future.”

Kent State’s University Library is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation as one of the nation’s top 77 public research libraries and is a member of the Association of Research Libraries.

“For candidates who are qualified, we offer an exceptional opportunity,” said Jeff Fruit, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and search committee chair. “We expect to present the provost with some outstanding final candidates to be the next dean.”

The number of applicants qualified to run a program like this one is small, Fruit said.

“While it is always difficult to predict how many total applications will come in,” Fruit said, “we do not expect a large pool of qualified applicants.”

The search committee plans to begin reviewing applications in late January. The committee will have until late in the spring semester to report its results to Provost Robert Frank, who will make the final decision.

The new dean should be in place by July 2010.

Contact libraries and information reporter Katie Kennedy at [email protected].