Doris Ann Sweet, director of library services, Assumption College
Sweet
Doris Ann Sweet earned degrees in English, history and library services from Columbia University, helped run the research services area of the Simmons College library and continues to do work for the American Library Association and the Association of College and Research Libraries. Now, she's the new head of library services at Assumption College in Worcester. In this Q&A she talks about the surprises she's found so far in Assumption's library shelves and the services that libraries can offer in a digital age.
Vital Stats:
Residence: Auburndale, the western-most "village" of Newton
Family: Husband (an attorney/mediator), two daughters, three grandchildren ages 7, 8, and 10
Education: Columbia University: BA in English; MS in library service; MA in history
Previous job: Associate director for research services at Simmons College Library
Start date at new job: Oct. 13
Q. How are you settling in at your new office?
A. Very well - the staff has been extraordinarily welcoming, as have faculty, administrators and students. Learning the infrastructure, often the hardest adjustment in a new job, has gone smoothly, with lots of help from staff, even before I arrived.
Q. What's the biggest surprise you've had in starting the job?
A. For a small college library, Assumption has some amazing treasures in its archives/rare books collection, including sixteenth century books and some unusual works of art. The rich, research level collections on the French presence in North America are also impressive.
Q. What challenges do you see in your new position?
A. The library world is changing dramatically, and there are many challenges. With new technologies and social networking providing promise for new ways of interacting with our users and providing services, there are endless possibilities for pursuing innovation. How do we make choices and set priorities? Students are overloaded with so much information that one of our most important roles as librarians is to work with faculty to help students develop the ability to sort out the information wheat from the chaff. With limited staff and faculty time, how can we achieve this important goal? Physical books and journals will be basic library staples for decades to come. But electronic books and journals are gaining currency, and in fact, as we offer more distance learning, they become not only a convenience for the 2 a.m. paper writer, but a necessity for the graduate student living in New Hampshire. Given budget limitations, how do we balance our print and electronic collections? And then there is physical space. Students are more heavily engaged in group learning and group projects than ever before, and library space needs to provide for groups working collaboratively (and noisily) as well for more traditional quiet study. There are plans down the road to expand library space, and making sure we build in ways that are flexible enough to meet future needs will be a challenge.
Q. How different is this job from your previous position?
A. As a library director, I have more overall responsibility for the library, its staff, the physical facility, resources, and budget, as well as more responsibility for representing the library on campus.
Q. How close is this to what you imagined in high school you'd end up
doing?
A. Not at all! I expected to be a mathematician or engineer.
Q. Where's the best place to get lunch near your new location?
A. Charlie's, a short walk on campus from the library, has a good variety of food to eat in or take out.
Q. What do you hope to be doing 10 years from now?
A. Admiring a newly expanded library building that wows its users!
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