Elisabeth Long, a collaborative leader and a practiced book artist who has spent nearly 30 years in progressively responsible roles with the University of Chicago Library, has been appointed the next Sheridan Dean of University Libraries, Archives, and Museums at Johns Hopkins University. She will assume the position on Jan. 3, 2023.
Elisabeth Long
Long, who since 2016 has served as associate university librarian for information technology and digital scholarship at UChicago, succeeds Winston Tabb, who has led JHU’s Sheridan Libraries since September 2002. In December 2021, Tabb announced plans to retire but said he would remain in the role until a new dean was in place to ensure a smooth transition.
“We launched a search for his successor this spring and charged the search committee with identifying exceptional candidates who could build on the success of our libraries and museums and help to set the vision for what the modern academic library should be at Johns Hopkins,” President Ron Daniels and Provost Sunil Kumar wrote in a message to the Hopkins community today. “Following a comprehensive national search, we have selected a candidate with extensive and varied experience in libraries who brings energy and a deep understanding of the research enterprise to this important position.”
Long presently oversees digital scholarship services for students and faculty at UChicago and is responsible for the library’s IT infrastructure that supports the preservation of digital archives, books, and data. In addition to her primary role, she also served as interim library director and university librarian within the past year, leading the university’s library system and a staff of roughly 200 people. She is a member of the senior leadership team at the University of Chicago Library and provides budget planning, assessment, and leadership in driving strategic priorities.
Throughout her life, Long has cultivated a passion for the physical book, and she continues to practice book artistry, letterpress printing, and papermaking in her spare time. She said she recently purchased several historical pigments and inks on a trip to London, and she owns multiple printing presses—including one that weighs in excess of 1,500 pounds and currently resides in her studio at the Bridgeport Art Center on Chicago’s South Side. Long said she is looking forward to consolidating her printing studio into her home when she moves to Baltimore.
Long also possesses a broad and diverse set of technological skills, along with an interest in special collections and in facilitating open and accessible scholarship. Among the things that attracted her to Hopkins, she said, is the university’s demonstrated commitment to open access and to “changing how scholarship is shared not just within the academy but also among the wider community.”
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.
