University Names New Dean of Library Services

Danianne Mizzy, a leader in academic library innovation, has been selected as Montclair State University’s next Dean of Library Services to oversee all library departments, operations and activities, beginning July 26, 2021.

Currently a special projects librarian at Cornell University, as associate university librarian she provided vision and strategic planning and led a team of five directors for 14 libraries. Mizzy brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in library services to her new role. Among her many accomplishments at Cornell, Mizzy launched a personal librarian program to welcome first-year, first-generation students, to help them make a successful academic transition and foster a sense of belonging.

During the pandemic, Mizzy was a member of Cornell’s COVID-19 response planning team and its Return to Campus task force that provided leadership for public services including contactless pickup and scanning, course reserves, virtual reference and instruction, public computing, virtual orientation and much more. She also oversaw the library’s partnership with Cornell’s Center for Teaching Innovation to support the transition to remote instruction and sponsored development of a virtual catalog browser.

Before joining Cornell, she worked in libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, The Academy of Natural Sciences, and the University of Pittsburgh. At UNC-CH, she served on the task force to create and implement its Research Hub plan supporting innovation and launching a makerspace in the Kenan Science Library. Mizzy was a co-founder of the BeAM (Be a Maker) network of makerspaces at Carolina and founded the Triangle Learning Network which catalyzes connections and collaborations to foster learning innovation and support lifelong learning in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Willard Gingerich said Mizzy’s experience in libraries at leading research universities has prepared her well for the role.

“Danianne Mizzy is the right person at just the right time for leading Montclair State University’s libraries into the new realities of academic information technologies and services that will support the research agendas of our faculty and the learning goals of our students,” Gingerich said. “She brings a vast knowledge of library service models and their effectiveness, and her passion and vision for the expanding opportunities of library services is readily evident. I could not be more pleased that Danianne Mizzy has agreed to join our University community.”

“I am honored to be joining Montclair State University as Dean of Library Services,” Mizzy said. “I was drawn by the University’s commitment, since its inception, to social justice. This is a generative time for academic libraries to redefine how we support student success, research and service, and how we make scholarship more inclusive, accessible and affordable. I look forward to working with colleagues in the library and with partners from across campus and across New Jersey to achieve the bold goals of the University’s strategic plan.”

Mizzy earned a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Fine Arts in Design from the Yale School of Drama and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Brown University. Prior to working in library services, she worked as a theatrical lighting designer and designed the lighting for August Wilson’s play Fences at the Yale Repertory Theater, ultimately taking it to Broadway, among many other productions.

Mizzy will succeed Judith Lin Hunt, who is retiring after 25 years of service to Montclair State University.