Rogers set to lead Penn library system

Carton Rogers became Penn's vice provost and director of libraries this Monday, concluding a nationwide search spurred by former director Paul Mosher's April 2003 resignation. Rogers served as interim director after Mosher's departure.

"I am very pleased," Rogers said of his appointment to the permanent position. "Obviously this is an extraordinarily exciting time at Penn, and I am ... very honored to be part of President Gutmann's leadership team."

The search for a new library director began in the spring of 2003. In April of that year, Mosher resigned after child pornography was discovered on his office computer. After pleading guilty on related charges, Mosher was sentenced to seven years probation and required to register as a sex offender in a March ruling.

Annenberg School for Communication Professor Joseph Turow chaired the search committee which ultimately selected Rogers.

"The University of Pennsylvania library deserves the absolute best that it can possibly have, and we think that we have found that," Turow said. "It isn't as if we just stuck with someone on campus -- we looked all around and found that Carton was the right person."

University Provost Robert Barchi agreed that Rogers' time as interim director allowed him to demonstrate that he was the best person for the position.

"Carton has done a superb job as Interim Director," Barchi said in a press statement. "He has earned the confidence of the staff and will provide the vision and the skill which the library will need as it faces the challenges of the upcoming decade."

In his position, Rogers looks forward to continuing the work he began as interim director and facing the challenges of Penn's library system while building on its strengths.

"My approach [as interim director] was to keep everything rolling as if nothing had happened 15 months ago, and what's wonderful is to have the opportunity to keep going," Rogers said. "I'm very excited about having that opportunity."

"I think that this is a wonderful opportunity for the library to begin to reposition ourselves and maybe even recreate ourselves to meet a changing external environment," Rogers said. "Users today have different needs and different expectations of libraries, and we have to make sure that we understand what those needs and expectations are, and ways to better meet them. I think that's crucial for our future."

In addition to making the library more accessible, Rogers plans extensive fund-raising to continue to build the University's physical collections while expanding Penn's digital library. In addition, he hopes to continue with library renovations to make the library a more accessible and user-friendly environment.

"The Penn library is relatively under-endowed -- particularly in the area of information funds [money used to purchase books and other items]," Rogers said. "I really want to spend a lot of energy raising money for the libraries."

One of the major projects he will embark on in the near future is a "collaboratory," a joint project with the School of Arts and Sciences.

The "collaboratory" seeks to "Co-locate various learning and teaching operations within library space, but also build new kinds of spaces where faculty and students will be able to come together, either within their own groups or across groups to try and bring the best learning and teaching programs together," Rogers said.

"We want to promote innovative teaching and learning, and provide an area where we can enhance the exchange of ideas in this area."

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