Dr. Sara Baron Named University Librarian

Dr. Sara B. Baron has been named University librarian, effective Tuesday, Sept. 1. She is currently dean of the university library at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va.

“I look forward to joining the Gumberg Library team and the Duquesne University community in fulfilling the calling to ‘Serve God by serving students,’” said Baron. “Libraries today are active partners in the educational mission of a university, contributing to academic excellence by providing rich resources, expert instruction and dynamic learning spaces.”

Baron brings to her new role extensive experience as an academic librarian, first at Texas Christian University and then at the University of Massachusetts’ Boston campus, before joining Regent University in 2005, where she has led a staff of 25 and administered a budget of $2 million. She is the immediate past president of the Catholic Library Association, having led that group as its president from 2013 through 2015. Baron also served in various capacities for the Library Administration and Management Association and the Association of College and Research Librarians. Her publications include articles in Reference Librarian and the Journal of Library Management as well as multiple contributions to Catholic Library World.

“It is an honor to have been invited to build on the excellent foundation already established by the Gumberg Library and to help guide it toward a future of creativity, collaboration and community engagement,” said Baron.

Baron holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in speech communication from Texas State University and an M.S. in library science from the University of North Texas. She earned her doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

“Librarianship is one of the most dynamic areas in higher education today,” said Dr. Timothy Austin, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We will be relying on Dr. Baron’s awareness of the major forces at work and her grasp of how they interact to guide the Gumberg Library as it moves to serve—and in some cases to shape—the evolving needs of our faculty and students.”