Karin Trainer, University librarian at Princeton University for 20 years who has overseen extensive growth in the library system, has announced plans to retire at the end of the academic year.
President Christopher L. Eisgruber has appointed Stephen Kotkin, the John P. Birkelund ’52 Professor in History and International Affairs, to chair a committee to identify a successor to the position, with the expectation of having the new University librarian in place by July 1, 2016.
“Karin Trainer’s legacy on this campus will be profound and enduring,” Eisgruber said. “Her leadership and vision over the past two decades have enhanced Princeton’s libraries tremendously: she has shaped their collections, improved their organization, cultivated their staffs, and overseen the design, construction and renovation of critical facilities. She has welcomed new media and preserved core strengths. Karin has been a fabulous University librarian, and her shoes will be hard to fill.”
“What a privilege and pleasure it has been to spend these years at Princeton, on a campus that loves its libraries and is eager for them to thrive,” Trainer said. “I don’t know of another university where the students, faculty, staff, alumni and trustees are as united in their support for the library as I’ve found here. These have been tumultuous but exhilarating years for research libraries, and I’m exceedingly proud of our library staff’s creativity and energy in introducing new research tools and services while continuing to strengthen the collections so important for teaching and research.”
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Among her professional associations, she was a board member of the Association of Research Libraries and undertook a number of committee assignments, many focusing on creating a diverse workforce for research libraries. In 2010, she arranged for Princeton to host the National Conference on Diversity in Libraries. She has served as a member of several reaccreditation panels for other Ivy League universities and is a longtime member of the Committee to Visit the Harvard University Library.
Previously, Trainer was associate university librarian at Yale University and director of technical and automated services at New York University.
In retirement, Trainer intends to remain in Princeton with her husband, Bill Stowe, Class of 1968.
Learn More About Karin Trainer and Her Many Accomplishments in the Complete Announcement
See Also: From January 1996: Karin Trainer to Lead Princeton University Libraries
See Also: “Maintaining Calm in a Sea of Constant Change” (via PrincetonInfo.com)
A profile of Trainer from 2014.
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