Joan D. Ruelle, who has 15 years of experience in library science at the University of Virginia and Hollins University, has been named Elon's Dean and University Librarian.
Ruelle will begin work at Elon’s Carol Grotnes Belk Library on June 1.
“Joan’s appreciation for the role of the teaching library in a liberal arts and sciences university setting such as Elon is what makes her the ideal candidate for the job,” said Steven House, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Her desire to make the library a central destination for learning and co-curricular activities on Elon’s campus — not just an ancillary space for research — is in line with our commitment to intellectual engagement and integrated learning.”
In addition to being responsible for Elon’s library personnel, budget, policy development, facilities planning and services, Ruelle will provide direction for the integration of emerging technologies into the services and operation of the library.
Since 2003, Ruelle has served as University Librarian at Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., providing leadership for all operations, services, resources and budgets of the school’s Wyndham Robertson Library and university archives.
Under her leadership at Hollins, the university’s Wyndham Robertson Library was recognized with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Excellence in Academic Libraries Award in 2009. Ruelle and colleagues worked to transform the library into an important component of students’ learning experiences.
Ruelle began her library career at the University of Virginia in 1997, where she coordinated user services for the science and engineering libraries and later was named coordinator for user education for the university library.
Ruelle also has experience as a faculty member, teaching gender and women’s studies courses at Hollins University and teaching cultural studies and comparative literature courses at the University of Minnesota. As a graduate student, she taught courses in cultural studies at the University of Minnesota and at Mankato (Minn.) State University.
Ruelle has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of North Dakota, a master’s degree in women’s studies from Mankato State University and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Iowa.
Ruelle will succeed Kate Hickey, who is retiring after 16 years of leadership of Elon’s library.