Trent University is pleased to announce the appointment of Emily Tufts as the new university librarian. In this role, Emily will provide strategic leadership to the library, overseeing librarians and library staff at both the Peterborough and Trent Durham locations. 

Emily is an energetic and passionate leader in information services, with extensive experience in library administration, information technology, data management, and assessment at postsecondary institutions. She is currently the associate university librarian for Scholarly Resources at Ontario Tech University where she is responsible for reference and research support, information literacy, and collections and technical services across three campus libraries, serving both Durham College as well as Ontario Tech.  

“The committee was impressed with Emily’s depth of knowledge in academic library administration. She demonstrated a compelling background in operational leadership, creative ideas, authentic relationship-building skills, and a strong commitment to Indigenization and EDI,” said Dr. Michael Khan, provost and vice president, Academic. “She is a student-centred leader and I look forward to her working with the Librarian team and others across the university in advancing Trent’s academic mission.”  

Emily has served as the manager of Library Services for Centennial College Libraries after holding a position as their Ashtonbee Campus Librarian. As manager, she led a team of 22 full-time library technicians and six faculty librarians across four locations while maintaining the collections budget. While in this role, she also led the planning and oversaw construction of the Progress Library makerspace and virtual reality media studio, developed and implemented an evidence-informed assessment strategy to manage collections, and championed the trial and implementation of a data management platform to help modernize and centralize data collection for improved planning and decision-making. 

Emily has a Master of Library and Information Studies as well as Bachelor of Education, Fine Arts and New Media from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Communication Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University. She continued her professional development achieving certifications in Teaching Excellence from Humber College and an Equity and Inclusion Specialist Certificate from Centennial College. Emily has been a champion for Indigenization and equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout her career. She embodies this in her day-to-day work by applying critical lenses in the management of collections and ensuring that services, data, literature, and media offered are reflective of the diverse communities served by libraries.  

“I believe deeply that libraries are places that not only hold space for shared knowledge, but that generate new ideas and learning,” said Emily upon her appointment. “With the recent renovation of the Bata Library, and the incredible team of staff and librarians spread across Peterborough and Oshawa, Trent has an exciting opportunity to lead the way in reshaping how libraries can be hubs of learning and innovation. I am so pleased to be joining this community.” 

Trent would like to extend its gratitude to the search committee for their time spent working with KBRS Executive Search on this critical hire for the university. 

Emily will begin her role as University Librarian starting on July 17, 2023. 

Congratulations and welcome to Trent, Emily!