Library Dean Accepts Position At Syracuse University

Suzanne Thorin, Ruth Lilly University Dean of University Libraries and Associate Vice President for Digital Library Development, has announced her resignation.

Thorin was appointed university librarian and dean of the library by the trustees of Syracuse University and will begin her duties there on October 1.

The IU Bloomington Libraries, with combined holdings of more than 6.5 million volumes, rank 12th in the nationwide Association of Research Libraries. Thorin is responsible for the planning and policy direction for all human resources matters, budget, facilities, collection development, public and technical services, library technology, and fundraising for the 20 campus libraries that comprise the IUB Libraries.

“Suzanne has done a marvelous job in her nine years at IU,” said IU Chancellor Ken Gros Louis. “She is widely respected by other deans and is highly visible within the CIC and nationally. I wish her the very best, but will miss her and her leadership.”

Thorin, who became dean in 1996, has positioned the libraries to excel in a technological age while building on the historic strengths of the university’s print collections and supporting their continued growth. Among her many contributions, Thorin is chiefly credited with addressing critical space-related issues. Under her leadership, the IUB Libraries planned and built an off-site storage facility for 2.7 million volumes that also houses the university’s first state-of-the-art book preservation laboratory. Thorin directed a renovation plan for the Herman B Wells Library to repair its infrastructure and to accommodate the research and study needs of students and faculty. 

With other IU administrators, Thorin developed and opened a 27,000-square-foot-space within the Wells Library for an Information Commons (IC), a highly integrated technology and information center that houses more than 250 individual- and group-configured computer workstations. An expansion of that space, which opened early this year, accommodates quiet study. The IUB Libraries are currently developing a research commons for faculty and graduate students.

In 1997 Thorin stepped up IU’s emerging digital initiatives by establishing IU’s Digital Library Program in partnership with other university units. The program, which has secured more than $5 million in federal funding, is considered one of the finest such programs in the country and is a member of the prestigious Digital Library Federation. Thorin has advanced other digital efforts at IU, including creating digital repositories for faculty publications, integrating digital library services with instructional technology, and expanding common electronic library resources available to all IU campuses.

Thorin has given presentations or consulted about library issues in Taiwan, China, Sweden, Japan, and Poland. Her research includes documenting the history of digital library development in the United States and how the differences in ways that scholars work are influencing their use of technology. She co-authored with Daniel Greenstein, The Digital Library: A Biography.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from North Park College in Chicago and master’s degrees in music history and literature and in library science from the University of Michigan. Thorin was formerly a member of the Library of Congress staff for more than 16 years. At the Library of Congress, she served as Chief of Staff to the Librarian of Congress and as the official U.S. representative, appointed by the White House, for the G-7 electronic libraries project, one of eleven G-7 pilot projects for the Global Information Society. She was also responsible for the Library’s National Digital Library Program.