Provost Ben Vinson III today announced the appointment of Emory University’s dean and librarian Yolanda Cooper as Case Western Reserve’s vice provost and Lindseth Family University Librarian. She will begin her new role Jan. 1.
“I am incredibly pleased to welcome Yolanda as the newest member of our team,” Vinson said. “She brings an extraordinarily people-centered approach to leadership and appreciates greatly the need to engage with, and understand, our own unique culture at Case Western Reserve.”
Cooper comes to CWRU as an experienced professional in the academic library space, having served in leadership roles with various university libraries since 1999.
At Emory University, Cooper worked with staff to develop a new strategic roadmap for the library, which included priorities such as organizational development; infrastructure and services; collaboration and community engagement; and user experience and operational excellence. In addition, under her tenure, Emory collaborated with Georgia Institute of Technology to create a state-of-the-art, 55,000-square-foot Library Service Center to house a shared collection of books and other materials.
In her role as vice provost and Lindseth Family University Librarian at Case Western Reserve, Cooper will manage an operating budget of nearly $8 million, a library staff of approximately 55, and more than 3.3 million print and electronic resource materials.