September 17, 2025 – Libraries Committee – Minutes

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Time: Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams

Present: Rachel Baum – ULC Chair, Anne Bonds, Michael Doylen – Library Director, Jesse Malmed, William Musinski, Ermitte Saint Jacques, Shevaun Watson, and Lance Weinhardt

Excused: Razia Azen, Jenny Hutton, Maura Lucking, Victoria Moerchen, and Analise Sandoval

Guest: Kate Ganski, Library Associate Director for User Services

  1. Baum called the meeting to order at 11:02 a.m. and invited committee members to introduce themselves.
  2. New business
    1. Election of chair for 2025-2026
      Rachel Baum was elected as the University Libraries Committee Chair for 2025-2026.
    2. Approval of April 8 and May 8 meeting minutes
      The minutes of the April 8 and May 8 meetings were approved by unanimous consent.
    3. Review 2024-2025 Libraries Committee Annual Report to the Faculty Senate
      ULC discussed the annual report that was submitted to the Secretary of the University. 
    4. 2025-2026 meeting modality and schedule
      The committee prefers to meet on Teams for the 2025-26 academic year. An in-person/hybrid meeting was considered for the fall semester. Doodle poll responses will be used to choose future meeting dates and determine the modality of those meetings.
  3. Director’s report
    1. Library website navigation improvements
      Doylen gave the committee a “tour” of the redesigned website navigation. The revised navigation is meant to be more intuitive for library users and based less on the org chart. It responds to feedback from students and reviews of websites of other academic libraries.
    2. Improvements to open study areas in GML
      Doylen provided an update on refreshed open study areas in GML. Areas of the east and west wings on the second floor have newly painted walls, recarpeted floors, and reupholstered furniture including new-to-us furniture from Waukesha.
  4. AI Research Assistants
    Kate Ganski, Library Associate Director for User Services, presented on AI research assistants. She shared information about available tools and the rubrics created to evaluate these tools. Evaluation supports trialing JSTOR and ProQuest One Business to gather more user input. ULC discussed the current recommendation and supported a smaller pilot program along with communication to faculty and campus.
  5. The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.