Aggie Women Lead: Jennifer Duncan, Librarian and Lover of Rabbit Holes

Editor’s Note: As part of a series, Utah State Today is publishing profiles of a variety of leaders. This interview with Dean for Libraries Jennifer Duncan is in observation of March as Women’s History Month.

Jennifer Duncan became the dean for libraries at Utah State University in August 2022, after serving as interim dean since July 2021.

Prior to serving as dean for libraries, Duncan had served as the head of USU’s Special Collections and Archives as well as the Rare Books Curator, where she oversaw the acquisition and management of incunables, Medieval manuscripts, special and rare books, pamphlets, and other printed materials for USU. Duncan has worked as a collections librarian for more than 20 years, including roles at Columbia University and Texas Christian University.

Duncan graduated with a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 and has a bachelor’s degree in history from Smith College.

The following is the transcript of an interview that Duncan conducted with Utah State Today.

Utah State Today: Tell me, at what age did you know you wanted to enter your current field and leadership role? What sparked your initial interest in your field?

Jennifer Duncan: I have always been a person who is curious, loves learning about all kinds of things, and enjoys spending time at school. I always thought I would be a schoolteacher or a college professor myself because as a child I would spend hours at a time teaching my dolls and stuffed animals in front of a small chalkboard. But when it came time to settle on my academic degrees, I just couldn’t focus on any one thing because every research project always led me down multiple rabbit holes and I just had to explore them all. I would spend hours in the library or the archives because there were so many fascinating sources to examine, digest, and incorporate.

My first degree was in Modern European Studies in History because I was able to mix and match so many disciplinary classes to form the major. In truth, I have loved libraries since I was a small child. I remember going to the Lubbock Public Library when I was only 3-4 and snuggling up in child-size furniture to look at picture books. Then between the ages of 8-12, I spent a lot of time in the Austin Public Library, exploring every nook and cranny, including the microfilm readers and newspaper morgue. In high school I regularly studied with friends in the Texas Tech Library (my first experience with a government documents collection), which was only a few blocks from my house.

But it wasn’t until college that I started working in libraries, specifically in the Hillyer Art Library and the Sophia Smith Women’s History Collection. I was especially excited to read women’s voices in an archive and worked for two years processing the Margaret Sanger papers.I have never lost my love of going down rabbit holes with other people to try to help them understand a problem or answer a question. I actually see my work as a dean in just that way—I’m trying to help others answer questions, solve problems, and elevate their own work.

UST: Were there specific individuals or events that inspired and influenced your career choices?

JD: During the course of my education and my career, several people have inspired me to be a better librarian and leader: John Tongate, the former head of reference at the University of Texas at Austin and one of my very first library supervisors, modeled for me what respectful leadership looks like. As a student at the UT Information School, I worked on the reference desk in the Graduate Library alongside other student employees, library staff, and librarians and John approached us all as a non-hierarchical team in which everyone had a valued voice.

Kerry Bouchard, the head of Library Technology at Texas Christian University and Breck Witte, the head of Library Technology at Columbia University, both encouraged me to always think creatively about problems and try to find my way to get to yes. Wendy Holiday, the current Dean of Libraries at Weber State, helped me become more focused on inclusivity and student success—and also taught me a lot about time management!

On the USU Campus, Professors Joyce Kinkead, Tammy Proctor, Alexa Sand, and their work with undergraduate research has been inspirational to me and has given me opportunities to keep learning.

UST: Was there a major influence that got you down the path you are currently on?

JD: I would say that being the child of public educators put me on my current path. My mother was a forty-year public schoolteacher, and my father was a professor at a public university. I have an enormous amount of respect for teachers and the work they do to elevate the lives of others. Librarians are also educators who serve the public good. Both of my parents loved their work and inculcated in me the value of finding work about which I could be passionate and about which I could feel good.

Finally, I would also say that I am inspired by my own daughter because I want to model for her the ability to make meaningful contributions to my community, to enjoy the work I am doing, while also maintaining a positive work/life balance.

UST: What is some advice you have been given that helped you on your journey? What advice would you give to other young people who are aspiring to follow their passion?

JD: One of my mentors above told me as I was about to take on this role that, to enjoy leadership, you need to enjoy elevating the work of others and that is something upon which I constantly reflect. How can I clear the way for our faculty and staff to do great things? How can I shine a spotlight on their amazing work? How can we celebrate their accomplishments? Seeing the library faculty and staff succeed just makes me happy.

Another good piece of advice I received very early in my career was to not be afraid of taking a risk and changing my path. I love new challenges, so it was never going to work for me to settle into one position for my entire career. Sometimes it can be challenging when students ask me to talk to them about how I got where I am because I can assure you that my career path has been quite circuitous. But I think the take home point is that it is important to constantly evaluate whether or not you find the work you are doing to be meaningful—and if not, pivot and figure out a new direction for yourself.

UST: What is a major project or initiative you are currently working on in your current field and leadership role?

JD: Just like higher education itself, for the past few decades libraries have been in a constant state of flux in response to rapid technological shifts. We have been doing quite a bit of reorganization in our library over the past year. I am not the only new administrator in our organization: I have two amazing new department heads who have been helping to re-evaluate the work we are doing so that we can continue to sustainably serve faculty, students, and the community and meet their changing expectations.

Two examples of significant changes that we have been implementing are the development of both a Digital Preservation Program (in our Collections & Discovery Department) and an Innovation Hub (in our Public Services Department). Increasingly, special collections material is coming to libraries in born digital format and digital preservation refers to the processes and procedures required to acquire, manage, and preserve that content (e.g. email, webpages, and other electronic documents).

Last fall we hired our first Digital Archivist whose initial project was to work with the Northwest Band of the Shoshone Nation to help manage the digital content housed in their tribal archive. The Innovation Hub, which we hope to launch in Fall 2024, is a space designed for students to have entry-level access to a variety of innovative technologies that support new curricular and research methods in the realm of digital scholarship. Working with academic departments across the university, we plan to host programming that highlights work with technologies such as GIS, product design and 3-D fabrication, media creation, and virtual reality to name a few. The space is designed to be highly collaborative and interactive, and we have received donor funding to support a graduate assistant in this area.

UST: What inspires you about your current field (or position) and leadership role?

JD: I am constantly inspired by my own staff in the USU Libraries, their dedication to student success, supporting research, and the passion and creativity with which they approach their work. Honestly, it is because of the staff at the USU Libraries that I decided to embrace the challenge of being a dean.