Michelle Light has returned to Yale to take on a combination of roles as associate university librarian for special collections and director of the Beinecke Library.
Light made her return to Yale on Oct. 1 after previously working as a project archivist in Manuscripts and Archives 20 years ago. She most recently worked as the director of special collections at the Library of Congress. In her new roles at the University, Light aims to unify the approach of the special collections in order to ensure a seamless user experience. This is the first time that the roles of leading the Beinecke and the entire special collections have been combined.
[Clip]
Light’s final role before returning to Yale was director of special collections at the Library of Congress, where she worked for just over two years. At the Library of Congress, Light oversaw six units of special collections with 260 staff members total.
Light told the News that she appreciates how unlike at the Library of Congress, her new role allows her to work closely with students and faculty.
“One of the areas of delight for me has been to see students in classes and working in the reading rooms again,” Light said. “I’m so committed to higher education and the value of students getting access to special collections materials as part of their undergraduate or graduate experiences. It has been really amazing to see the energy and curiosity in reading rooms and in the classrooms at Yale.”
[Clip\
Light told the News that she is excited about being able to achieve a unified approach towards organizing and finding materials in the special collections under the combination of roles.
“I see exciting advantages and opportunities for a unified approach for how we can leverage all of these special collections materials at Yale to support not only students and faculty in their learning and research but also the worldwide scholarly community as well,” Light said.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
