(Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
On January 30, María R. Estorino became vice provost for University libraries and University librarian following nine months as the University Libraries’ interim director (see go.unc.edu/Estorino). She is the 11th person to lead Carolina’s libraries and she steps into the permanent position at a moment that she believes is full of opportunities.
Congratulations, María! To begin, I wonder if you could tell us a bit about your background. How did you come to librarianship, and how do you think that influences your outlook today?
Well, let me say first how fortunate I feel to be entrusted with this responsibility and to work with the incredible team at the University Libraries. If I’ve made it to this point, it’s thanks to the work that so many others do to make this library great.
My own career starts with a passion for history andhow we understand our past. That love for history sparked when I was about 9 and my cousin’s future wife was showing me how to use a camera and develop film. She also gave me a book that was a history of American photography geared toward middle-grade readers. And I remember that being a world-opening experience. I had always liked social studies; seeing photographs of historical people and events opened up that interest in a much more meaningful way.
As an undergraduate, I wanted to understand how we know history. What are the traces that help us know what we know? I had the opportunity to do an internship at the archives of the Smithsonian Institution. It gave me a whole new idea of what a career in history could be and set me on my career path in public history, museums, libraries and especially archives.
I think so much of what we do in all these settings is about meeting people in different moments of curiosity, or need or aspiration, and building a mutual understanding of how we can work together for the benefit of each other and the greater whole. Our expertise as librarians and archivists can help people see the bigger picture of all the things that are possible.
How would you describe the job of being University Librarian?
When you’re in an administrative role, it’s possible to see connections that people who are immersed in the work don’t always see. In my previous position, as director of Wilson Library, I felt like it was about bringing people together and making connections.
That’s a very energizing part of this work.
The University Librarian position has a similar function, only now it’s my job to look across the entire organization and start to see patterns and connections. I’m in a position to be able to convene people around certain ideas or challenges or opportunities.
I also think that one of the key aspects of the job is to be advocate-in-chief. It’s telling the stories of the Library. In good times, it’s to generate opportunity and relationships and foster conversation. Sometimes, you’re doing it when things are more challenging, and you have to really demonstrate how what we’re trying to accomplish aligns with greater goals and merits support.
Perhaps the third piece of that is that librarianship has always been a collaborative professional space. We participate in so many different organizations and collectives, both on campus and with other libraries. I think that’s going to become even more important as we move forward, and it’s part of my job to look for those opportunities. You have to understand the larger conversations and make sure that you’re in them. Because it doesn’t matter if you make good decisions for your library if you can’t put them in conversation with your campus and with higher education as a whole.
What are some of the opportunities that you feel especially excited about?
One of the things I’ve loved over the past year is learning about the entirety of the organization and the areas of excellence that have the potential to be meaningful for the Library and also for the entire community.
Research impact is an area that I’m excited about and where really advanced work is going on, especially at the Health Sciences Library. There’s tremendous value for the University as a whole in better understanding where we excel, where investments are yielding results and where there are collaborative opportunities. While a lot of academic libraries are starting to grow in this space, we have a team that has already been incubating this expertise for years. I’m really excited to unleash that, make it more visible and build the service models that will help people do their best work.
I’m also really excited about the possibilities of collaboration around applying data science methods and technology to the humanities. With the rich special collections that we have, we already support significant teaching, research and learning in the humanities. This is a center of possibility where we could really lean into that strength to collaborate with the College of Arts and Sciences, with the new School of Data Science and Society and with other partners across campus to create a stronger research infrastructure for these emerging research directions in the humanities. Today, we’re seeing data science entering fields that have not traditionally used data-driven methods and tools for their work. And I think we’re in a really good position to facilitate more of that kind of work.
Finally, I’m excited about our spaces. Even with some very real challenges, we are at a moment where we can really try to define a new future. Our spaces give us an opportunity to articulate where we see ourselves going and help define a new future for our students, and for our research and local communities, as well. Students have told us for years that a café in Davis Library would give them a better study environment. I’m excited that we’re partnering with Carolina Dining to make that a reality this year. I’m interested in thinking about other ways we can activate our spaces to be welcoming and adaptable to the way students and researchers work now.
Much of this vision sounds very technology focused. At the same time, you are now the leader of a library with a really storied history. How do those elements relate to each other?
I think that our storied history is, at its core, the history of the amazing collections we have built over the last century. Those collections are at the heart of our success, and I think that doesn’t change. We are facing challenges with how we sustain the excellence of collections in an increasingly expensive environment where more is being published than ever before. Even so, we will always invest in collections because they are the central nervous system of who we are. We will always be building collections that are meaningful to our campus and our state.
At the same time, I’ve always been interested in what I call the cosmology of academic research libraries. We’ve historically placed our collections at the center of our universe, and then built services, programs and staffing to revolve around them. I’m interested in an approach that puts people at the center of our cosmology—users, students, researchers, donors who give us collections that we care about, the people who produce knowledge here on our own campus.
Then it’s a different conversation, a different point of view, where the collections are in service to the user communities we work with. It’s not that the focus shifts away from collections and to technology. It’s that technology and data are one more way to activate and unlock collections for learning, knowledge creation and clinical care.
What do you think a research library like Carolina’s means to students today, in 2023?
I tend to think that it means different things to different students. They are such a diverse community, and their needs are also very diverse. For a lot of students the library is a place—a safe place, a known place, a place they feel they can find other students and be able to do what they need to do. Sometimes that’s studying. Sometimes it’s watching a film or attending a Zoom class. Sometimes it’s not any of those things.
I think the library as a resource is also very important for learners at every level. Some students are coming to campus who have not necessarily engaged with libraries in ways that leave them prepared for the academic research wealth they have here on this campus. We invest in programs that welcome students into our spaces apart from assignments or classes, so that there’s a greater sense of ease with approaching us when they do need help. That’s something we’ll definitely continue.
I should add that the University Libraries is also an employer, with almost 150 student workers right now. They help us get our work done, and we’re also giving students important work experience that they can carry forward as they build their careers.
To wrap up, is there something you wish everybody knew about the University Libraries?
I’d say: You belong in these libraries and these libraries belong to you. We hold the resources here in public trust for our campus, and for the entire state of North Carolina.
More than anything, we are here to be your intellectual and creative partner in achieving your goals. That’s going to look different for different people but, really, that’s the key. Your goal may be that assignment from your professor, or a federally funded research project. Your goal may be to preserve a set of interviews that you conducted in your local community and you want to make sure they will be part of the historical record in a meaningful way.
And at the end of the day, our greatest asset is the staff who work here, the human beings who can help you navigate this very complex collection and information environment. I want people to know that just because you cannot find something on your own doesn’t mean that the conversation is over. We’re here for you, and that’s what I want people to know.
