The dean of the College's New Library, Taras Pavlovsky, has recently been appointed to the influential New Jersey Library Network Review Board. Pavlovsky, along with seven other librarians from across the state, is responsible for advising New Jersey State Librarian Norma E. Blake in making decisions concerning many aspects of library enhancements around the state.
"Academic libraries, especially those in the state college and state university systems, play a vital role in the intellectual and economic life of the state of New Jersey," Pavlovsky said.
The New Jersey State Library (NJSL) and its review board help govern what changes take place in the libraries across the state.
"(The College) is a unique institution, with a truly amazing faculty and student body," Pavlovsky, who hopes to take his passion for the College and academic libraries to the board, said. Pavlovsky, who was appointed to the board by Blake, has an impressive background of experience in the field and wishes to act as a representative for university libraries.
Pavlovsky holds a master's of science in library science from Columbia University as well as a master's of musicology and a bachelor's in chemical engineering, both from Rutgers University.
Since coming to the College in 1995 as the music and media librarian, he has served as chair of the library faculty for several years and was appointed to the Library Planning Committee in 1997 during the initial development of the College's New Library. After being named the dean of the New Library in 2001, Pavlovsky worked to further develop the resources and construction of the library.
Before arriving at the College, Pavlovsky worked as assistant librarian and head of technical services at the Lila Acheson Wallace Library at the Juilliard School in New York City. He has also worked at the Laurie Music Library of Rutgers University and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
As a newly appointed member of the review board, Pavlovsky and the other board members will provide a voice to the many different libraries throughout New Jersey. NJSL, since its creation in 1983, has striven to make fair and equal opportunities for all residents of New Jersey regarding libraries and their resources. Their goal is to make libraries and their material obtainable to every community in the state.
The NJSL has instituted summer reading programs for children, helped control the cost of maintaining smaller local libraries and created New Jersey libraries' interlibrary loan system JerseyCat. The NJSL has also helped build the interactive Web site, jerseyclicks.org, where students can find articles and homework help through an extensive online database and a live librarian chat that is available 24/7.
Libraries are more than a place for students and professors to do research; they are the essence of education and learning.
"Libraries have traditionally served as the repositories of and gateways to all human knowledge," Pavlovsky said.
