Dear University of Maryland community,
I am pleased to begin this new semester with news that Holly Mercer has been named our new dean of University Libraries. She will begin her new role on July 1, 2025.
As Dean, Holly will provide highly collaborative and visionary leadership to the University Libraries, guiding a team of recognized leaders in the continued development of innovative, user-centered programs, services and spaces. She will partner with colleges, schools and units across campus to help drive world-class initiatives that support the university community’s highest educational and research aspirations.
Working with a team of knowledge experts, Holly will advance the libraries' strategic goals while engaging external partners, including state, regional, and national consortia and organizations, to expand resources and create new opportunities for our University Libraries. Through creative strategies and a focus on operational effectiveness, she will ensure the libraries maintain a strong upward trajectory in their growth, services and impact.
Holly will join UMD from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she currently serves as senior associate dean and professor for UT Libraries. In this role, she oversees nine units within the libraries, is responsible for technology planning and collections strategy, plays a key role in budget and strategic planning, and serves as the libraries’ grants officer.
Holly has played a key role in several transformative initiatives for the UT Libraries, including a partnership with the Office of Innovative Technologies for large-scale storage of research data, and planning for a move of special collections and low-use general collections to a new Library Storage Annex. In addition, she played an integral role in launching a pilot program to help faculty working on digital projects reach the next stage of development, including pursuing external grants. She also acquired and helped secure the funding to purchase the collection of one of UT Libraries’ most distinctive collections, the archive of Knoxville-born African-American artist Beauford Delaney.
Holly has held a variety of roles within UT Libraries overseeing research, collections and scholarly communications. She has also served as director of the Newfound Press, UT Libraries' digital library press. She was recognized as an Association of Research Libraries Leadership Fellow, has served as a member of the Path to Open Community Advisory Board and ALA Association of College and Research Libraries, and served as board chair for HathiTrust. Holly has published and presented academic papers on topics such as open access, university repositories and social networking.
University libraries at research institutions are undergoing rapid change and, at Maryland, we have been a leader in this evolution. I believe Holly’s demonstrated commitment to equitable access and scholarly excellence and collaboration will build upon the exceptional work of our libraries staff to elevate our nationally-acclaimed libraries to new levels of achievement.
I would like to thank Daniel Mack for his exceptional leadership over the past seven months, and for continuing in his role as interim dean to help ensure a smooth transition until Holly’s arrival in July. And, of course, a sincere thank you to Dr. Adriene Lim for her decades of service to the field of library science and administration, including nearly five years as dean of UMD Libraries. She built a strong foundation and reputation for Holly to build upon.
I also extend my thanks to the search committee, led by College of Arts and Humanities Dean Stephanie Shonekan, for their work to identify an outstanding group of finalists.
Please join me in congratulating Holly and welcoming her to the Terrapin family!
Sincerely,
Jennifer King Rice
Senior Vice President and Provost
She/Her/Hers