CDO Heeyoung Kim named dean of libraries
By Jay Roberson
Heeyoung Kim, chief diversity officer and director of the Teaching and Learning Center, has taken on her third role as Rider’s dean of libraries, which was previously held by Provost DonnaJean Fredeen as interim dean following Jason Barr’s departure in October 2023.
“It was very obvious to me that the best person on campus to ask would be [Kim]. She’s a strong leader and she has worked with the librarians in the past and built a strong relationship with them,” said Fredeen.
Melissa Hofmann, a professor-librarian and Sharon Whitfield, an associate professor-librarian, look forward to initiatives put forth by Kim and Fredeen, but still look to the future with some uncertainty.
Hofmann said, “This is our fourth dean that doesn’t have library experience … so they don’t really know what our roles are. And to have to explain that again and again, it gets a little exhausting.”
With Kim taking over as dean of libraries, Fredeen hopes the library will become a learning commons, a student-centered space offering tutoring, technology labs and maker spaces.
Whitfield said, “The vision is important, but I think that it is going to be added work. … We want our services to be a success, so we will do pretty much anything in order to get something to be successful.”
In the next few weeks, the library staff and Academic Success Center will be running trial sessions for students to come and receive support from tutors and librarians in the learning commons.
Fredeen said, “The Academic Success Center is going to be doing drop-in tutoring with a research librarian sitting there helping students.”
On top of tutoring services, Hofmann hopes to offer lessons on information literacy, AI literacy and media literacy.
Both Hofmann and Whitfield look forward to seeing a learning commons in the library, but hope to see a more unique perspective on it.
Whitfield said, “What can we do in order to really engage the community, be innovative and really think about what the library can do to really meet students’ needs? That’s the vision for the library I would like to hear articulated. If that’s the learning commons, perfect, but how can we make the learning commons unique to meet the Rider students’ needs?”
Though Kim comes with a background in instructional technologies, Hofmann noted that her new role as dean of libraries will be a tough position to move into.
“I think if we are going to be a learning commons, it’s going to require a lot of vision, a lot of movement, alot, I mean a lot of labor, in order to get it going. And you’re really going to have to touch base with everybody on campus,” said Hofmann.
Whitfield also has concerns with implementing a learning commons amid a period of transition between university president and budget cuts.
“I appreciate the direction and I appreciate the vision, but it’s tough during a transition period,” said Whitfield.
Despite the librarian’s concerns, Whitfield and Hofmann both have positive outlooks on Kim’s new position.
“We’ve all had good working relationships with Heeyoung in the past, and so we’re looking forward to seeing what can come to fruition with her as our dean.”
