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UF News University of Florida

Director of University Libraries to retire

January 16, 2007

Dale Canelas, director of University Libraries since 1985, will retire Jan. 31. With the longest tenure of any library director at the University of Florida, Canelas has numerous accomplishments of note, including:

  • Establishment of a Collection Management Department through which subject specialists direct the acquisition and management of collections and act as liaisons between academic departments and the libraries.
  • Establishment of a book preservation program.
  • Establishment of a development program to identify friends and raise funds to support the collection and needs of the libraries.
  • Establishment of the Digital Library Center to make resources accessible electronically.
  • Renovation of Smathers Library (East) to provide excellent physical conditions for the use and preservation of Special and Area Studies Collections.
  • Establishment of the State University System Electronic Resources Committee to provide for statewide consortial pricing, reducing UF’s costs for electronic collections.
  • Construction of Marston Science Library.
  • Renovation and expansion of Library West.
  • Creation of a Human Resources Office including a staff development program to ensure that staff have the skills needed to handle technology and meet the evolving needs of users.

Canelas also has served as a leader among her professional library colleagues within Florida and across the United States. For 10 years she chaired Florida’s State University System Council of Library Directors and the Board of Directors for the Florida Center for Library Automation. She served on the Governing Board of the Research Libraries Group and the Board of the Center for Research Libraries. She was elected to the Board of the Association for Research Libraries and chaired its Committee on Research Collections. She was an elected member of the American Library Association’s Council and was president of the Library Administration and Management Association.