Stanford, CA—Stanford Libraries announces the appointment of Alexis Manheim to Assistant University Librarian for Technical and Access Services. Manheim, a distinguished technical services professional, has been serving as Stanford’s Associate Director and Head of the Acquisitions Department for six years.
“Alexis is a dynamic and effective leader, whose analytical and creative approaches to problem-solving are first-rate,” said Michael A. Keller, Ida Green University Librarian at Stanford. “Alexis is acutely aware of the challenges and opportunities facing our library systems. We are fortunate to have her on board. I am confident that Alexis’ insights and collaboration across the organization and with external partners will benefit Stanford to a considerable degree”
Keller notes the complexities involved with operating a robust technical and access services operation. “Technical Services, in particular, should be constantly evolving; this is certainly the case at Stanford. Whether it is managing the acquisition and cataloguing of new formats, such as data or digitally born material, updating metadata practices, for example so they do not perpetuate racist language, the conservation of rare manuscript fragments, or employing new technologies and protocols to connect to services, the technical and access services departments require a forward-thinking leader like Alexis at the helm.”
In her new role, Manheim will manage Access Services, which is responsible for circulation and privileges, interlibrary borrowing and loan, collection transfers and the Google Books scanning project. She will also oversee: the three Stanford Auxiliary Libraries where collections are stored; the Acquisitions Department that orders, processes, and pays for our physical and electronic resources; the Metadata Department that creates and remediates descriptions for Stanford’s holdings to enhance the discovery of and access to resources; and the Preservation Department which manages the care and conservation of physical items and collections.
Manheim joined Stanford Libraries in September 2010 as the Electronic Resources Librarian in the Acquisitions Department. During that time, the Libraries’ material budget first exceeded 50% spent on electronic content. In response, she integrated e-resources into existing and then improved workflows, streamlined processing of new licenses, and continued to ensure and preserve access for Stanford users.
In 2015, Manheim was appointed Head of the Acquisitions Department after serving as interim following the retirement of Sue-Ellen Johnson. In this capacity, Manheim led the digital bookplating initiative and worked on a cross departmental team charged with implementing the first instance of article searching in Stanford’s online catalog SearchWorks.
“It is a great honor to have the trust and recognition of colleagues to advance to this new role,” said Manheim. “I am very much looking forward to working with the teams in Technical and Access Services, as well as colleagues around the Libraries, to update and improve library services and systems so that they exceed the needs of our staff and patrons, while also contributing to broader organizational goals and initiatives.”
Manheim will assume the role of Assistant University Librarian for Technical and Access Services effective September 1, when incumbent Philip Schreur assumes the Deputy University Librarian position.