Sarah Forzetting Appointed University Librarian at UC Merced

The University of California, Merced has announced the appointment of Sarah Forzetting as its new University Librarian, effective July 1, 2026. Established in 2005, UC Merced is the tenth and newest campus in the University of California network of public research universities. Forzetting will lead the ongoing development of the UC Merced Library, where most monographs, nearly all journals, and approximately 92% of the general collections are available in electronic format. As a member of the UC Council of University Librarians, she will play a key role in advancing the priorities of the extensive UC Libraries system, which serves over 300,000 students.

In a message to the UC Merced campus community, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Elizabeth R. Dumont noted that Forzetting distinguished herself among a strong pool of candidates during a national search. Her selection was based on her progressive leadership positions in acquisitions, licensing, and collections management; her broad perspective on the research and information ecosystem gained from her prior roles in book sales at Ingram Content Group and as an editor at ABC-CLIO; as well as her professional service as President of the California chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

As a Coutts Information Services consultant in 2011, Forzetting developed tailored approval plans for print monographs that addressed the specific needs of subject specialists at Stanford University Libraries. Her exceptional performance in this external role led to her first appointment at Stanford in 2014 as the Ordering and Fiscal Librarian. In 2019, she advanced to the position of Digital Collections Librarian, where she expertly negotiated electronic resource contracts and licensing agreements. Since 2021, she has served as the Associate Director of Acquisitions and Collections Services, where her positive leadership style and strategic initiatives have made a lasting impact across the organization.
 

Alexis Manheim, Associate University Librarian for Technical and Access Services, has worked alongside Forzetting in each of her roles. "Sarah has been an exceptional colleague and collaborator, and I will deeply miss working with her, but I've never been more confident that someone is ready to take on a new leadership role. Sarah will undoubtedly continue to excel in her people-centered, process-oriented approach—always focused on fostering positive workplace culture and delivering innovative yet pragmatic library services," she stated.

In collaboration with the Stanford School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Business, Forzetting negotiated the first journal contract with Cambridge University Press that covers authors’ open-access publication fees—an agreement that has become a model of best practices for other institutions. Additionally, she and her colleagues recently co-developed the Fokus FOLIO APIs system for real-time ordering and subscription management in a pilot project with HARRASSOWITZ. A press release at the launch highlighted that “the collaboration with Stanford University Libraries underscores the importance of partnerships in advancing library technologies.”

Forzetting also developed the contractual model for the Stanford Data Farm, the university’s research data exploration tool for datasets. Ian Mathews, CEO of Redivis, remarked, “Sarah was absolutely instrumental in making the Stanford Data Farm (powered by Redivis) the success it is today. With the platform hosting research data from across campus, it was critical to develop the contractual frameworks that would align the various schools, departments, and research groups—while providing a cohesive experience for the research community. Sarah made this all possible, and working with her always felt like a collaborative partnership as we tackled our collective aims to further research and learning.”
 

“Sarah has played a pivotal role in developing essential corporate and institutional partnerships that have advanced library technologies and frameworks. Her efforts in streamlining library workflows and enhancing access to research data demonstrate her commitment to collaboration and open infrastructure,” said Michael A. Keller, the Ida M. Green University Librarian. “While these initiatives may be behind the scenes for most library patrons, her appointment as University Librarian at UC Merced underscores their vital importance to every university research library,” Keller added.

Forzetting’s legacy at Stanford University Libraries centers on fostering joyful collaboration in the workplace as an alternative to traditional academic structures that often prioritize stoic isolation and competition. She and co-authors from three other university libraries articulated this perspective in their article, “Joy is a Strategy: How We Sparkle Together” (Collaborative Librarianship, October 2024), and she further promoted this ethos through a dedicated Slack channel at Stanford.

“I am proud to have built services and programs that provide effective acquisition solutions to support research, teaching, and learning at Stanford and positively impact the wider scholarly communication ecosystem,” Forzetting said. “Collaborating with talented subject matter experts to build world class collections at Stanford University Libraries has been a great joy!”

Effective June 12, Irina Trapido will become the Acting Head of the Acquisitions & Collection Services department. Please direct any inquiries related to invoices or payments to sul-payments@stanford.edu.