Suzanne Wones can’t imagine her life without libraries. UC Berkeley’s new university librarian vividly recalls trips to her childhood library, where books were an invitation to explore the world. As a high schooler, she often sought the quiet refuge of library spaces, even as she was “known for being a little too chatty” in the stacks. And as a graduate student in history at the University of New Hampshire, she discovered her vocation working at the campus library. She even met her husband in the UNH library!
Over her career, Wones (pronounced like “ones”) has engaged in nearly every aspect of library work. She’s logged 20-plus years in library leadership, most recently serving as associate university librarian for discovery and access at Harvard University. While her responsibilities have grown, her fundamental view of libraries has remained constant. “They are a bedrock of our society,” she says. “They are an essential part of our communities, our country, and our democracy.”
In her first months at Cal, Wones has focused predominantly on listening. She has visited with staff members throughout the UC Berkeley Library as well as key leaders on campus. And she’s made an impression, being lauded for her warm presence, easy laugh, and librarian’s heart for service.
We caught up with Wones to learn more about her love for libraries, her priorities in the new role, and her passions outside the office. Hint: You may run into her at a Zumba class.
What are your initial impressions of Berkeley, the campus, and the Library?
I’ve really enjoyed exploring the area. The town itself I find to be a really vibrant community, and I’m amazed by how many unique restaurants and shops there are. It’s nice to see the authentic small businesses here. And I am patronizing as many as I can!
The campus is gorgeous. I enjoy the way that Doe, Moffitt, and the East Asian Library all surround Memorial Glade. You really get the sense that the libraries are core to the university. Everyone in the Library has been so kind and eager to share about their work. In fact, everyone I’ve met at UC Berkeley has been welcoming. It already feels like home.
You’ve been touring campus libraries. Has there been a collection that has stuck out to you?
Well, for sheer breadth and depth, you can’t beat the Main (Gardner) Stacks. The artists’ books collection in Environmental Design was a revelation to me. I’m glad the library offered an open exhibit recently to let us touch and flip through a few of the new acquisitions.
Personally, I was drawn to — and had to force myself not to stay forever with — the California Detective Fiction Collection in The Bancroft Library. There was a whole cart of books, and I just wanted to peruse all of those for much longer than I had time to.
Core services are a big priority in the Library’s strategic plan. How do you define them?
Core services are those that we absolutely have to provide for students and faculty to get their work done. We’re preparing for a review of our services that will help answer two important questions. What are the services that are most heavily used? And what are the functions that people aren’t using? Because patterns of use and scholarship change over time, and the Library has to adapt to meet our users where they are now.
I’ll be looking to get as much information as possible, through data, but also through surveys, conversations, and focus groups — whatever we need to do to find out what our users really value and need from us. That information will be our North Star as we move forward.
What are some of the ways you see artificial intelligence impacting Library operations and services?
I want to make sure that the Library is positioned well to leverage advances in AI technology. It’s really important for us to adapt to these tools proactively and consciously. We need to be very careful about how we are employing the tools, how we’re putting them to the best use in the Library, and also how we are educating our community, especially students, about their use. We want to make sure students understand how AI is mining data, whether or not they can trust that data, how to double-check the information, etc. My hope is that we can become a trusted adviser.
Why would you urge someone to support the Library?
The Library is vital to the successful accomplishment of the university’s mission. Our faculty and students count on the Library to help them find the information they need, connect with key resources, and produce knowledge for the benefit of the world.
It is quite a resource-intensive proposition just to do all those things well. But the Library is also always looking to our next generation of researchers, and making sure that we are adapting to current scholarship methods and outputs. And that means we need extra financial support to be able to try new things. We provide a constantly evolving set of services, so we need to have ways to move to the future while still providing current scholars what they need now. We rely on donors to help us do both. So we really need the support of people who understand and believe in our mission.
What is something people may not know about library work?
How much of our work is about problem-solving with users. It’s a partnership that involves working very closely with scholars to help them accomplish their goals, whether that’s a student learning how to use a database or a faculty member trying to understand whether a dataset will be right for their research. It’s so much more than just stamping a book and handing it to them over a desk.
If you could have dinner and conversation with any historical figure, who would it be?
I’d like to talk to Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was an anti-lynching activist around the turn of the 20th century. She was a newspaper editor in Tennessee and then moved to Chicago after her newspaper’s office was destroyed. She’s always been an inspiring figure to me. I would love to hear how she drew strength from the persecution she suffered, and how she worked with people to become active, take stances, and put themselves at risk for the greater good.
What book are you reading now?
I’m always reading something. Right now it’s The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Have you read that one? I’m really loving it. It has great characters and gives you a wonderful sense of shared community.
You mentioned in another forum that you have cats. How many? Names?
I have two cats: Simba and Maisy. We adopted them both as adult cats, but not at the same time. They’re not fans of each other (laughs). They’re frenemies. Although they did kind of bond over the move (to Berkeley) because it was so horrifying to both of them. They put their hostilities on pause to try to make sense of this new world.
Desert island book.
I might go with Possession by A.S. Byatt. I really love that book. Then again, if you’re on a desert island, do you want something really long that you haven’t read before? So maybe In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. That’s thousands of pages. But I also might hate it. So I might want my comfort reading.
Desert island film.
Singin’ in the Rain. So classic. Always makes you feel good.
Desert island album.
That’s a toughie. The Beatles would be good to have. I’m thinking of a four-CD set — the best of the Beatles. I hope it would count as one album.
What are you passionate about outside of work?
Hiking with my family. I also love going to concerts. I almost always have some music playing in the house. I love singing. I’m not great at it, but I love to do it. And I go to Zumba because that’s really just dancing in disguise.
What drives you?
Two things — It’s learning new things and meeting new people on the one side, and on the other, trying to have a positive impact on the world. That’s why I love working in libraries.
This Q&A was edited for brevity and clarity.