Sarah Penniman, the new director of the High Library, grew up around stacks and shelves. Her mother is a librarian at Albright College, and Penniman’s first job was as a mobile intern at the Berks County public library.
The High Library welcomed its new director in June. A graduate of Dickinson College and Ursinus College, Penniman earned master’s degrees in library sciences and English literature. She spent much of her professional career at Delaware Valley College, rounding out her experience working at both large and small schools. Dr. Susan Traverso, provost and senior vice president, said that Penniman’s impressive and strong career experience in diverse workplaces, coupled with glowing recommendations, were important to the decision to hire her.
“I was very impressed with all the finalists,” Traverso said. “But I felt the committee made a strong decision with Sarah.” Penniman said she had not been looking for a new job when the opportunity arose. “One of my colleagues forwarded it to me and said this looks like it’s for you,” she said. Penniman knew of Elizabethtown College and thought that it might be a good fit.
“She’s absolutely fabulous,” said Louise Hyder-Darlington, the access services librarian at the High Library. “She’s dynamic and has a great vision for the library.” Hyder-Darlington said the hiring process for a new director is always about seeing how the puzzle pieces fit, and everyone the committee interviewed for the position embraced innovation and new ideas.
Penniman’s previous work had challenged her in thinking strategically about utilizing space, resources and funding. She explained that the library at Delaware Valley College is smaller than the High Library, and so it took hard work and critical thinking to use the available resources to the best of their ability. This experience helped Penniman delve into several new projects at the High Library this year, as well as her normal duties. “Any director of any organization is in charge of oversight of the collections, services and facilities. That person is the one steering the course and providing directions and that’s a collaborative process, especially at an academic institution,” Penniman said. Her position allows her to keep an open dialogue with faculty and staff members and students to improve different aspects of the High Library.
One of the strengths that Sarah has is that understanding of the High Library as a center of culture and understanding.”
Penniman said that she picked up projects begun in the spring involving student focus groups. The initiatives included finding which places at the library are heavily utilized and figuring out how they can be reconfigured to better use the available space, as well as increasing resources the High Library offers, such as the new online database CREDO, which links in all other databases at the High Library and streamlines searches, and Libguides, mini websites professors can use to find course-specific links and relevant resources for their classes. Both online resources are new this fall. The final major effort is the completion of the Hess Archives on the first floor of the High Library. It is a climate controlled space built to house artifacts, photographs and documents from the Young Center’s collection, as well as materials on E-town and the Church of the Brethren. The new archive houses a reading room, the archivist’s office, a processing room, and the collections room.
Traverso said that jumping into a new position and handling all of these new and in-depth projects was a lot to ask Penniman to manage and she handled it all seamlessly. “One of the strengths that Sarah has is that understanding of the High Library as a center of culture and understanding,” Traverso said. The Provost also praised Penniman’s sensitivity to student needs such as employment and study space and her interest in generating new networking opportunities and events in conjunction with the High Library, including lectures and films.
Penniman said she enjoys the arts and humanities, due in part to her background in them, but she said she does not have a specific focus in any one aspect of running the High Library. Instead, she said she enjoys working at the High Library for the new opportunities and challenges it offers. Penniman said she loves the campus too. “The chapel is gorgeous, and my daughter loves the lake. She calls it the duck pond,” Penniman said. She looks forward to interacting with the students and working on the many new projects in the High Library this year.
Online Extra: In this short video, hear from Penniman — she shares a neat story about a blue jay!
Video by Kelly Derbes.