Nicolette A. Dobrowolski Promoted to Director of Special Collections Research Center
Nicolette A. Dobrowolski was promoted to Director of Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) at Syracuse University Libraries effective July 1, 2023. Dobrowolski was serving as interim co-director of the Special Collections Research Center since November of 2021.
“We’re delighted that Nicolette has decided to assume the role full-time, given her outstanding experience and history with SCRC,” said David Seaman, Dean of the Libraries, University Librarian and Interim Dean of the School of Information Studies. “Nicolette has been an instrumental leader at the Libraries. She is well respected by the Libraries staff as well as colleagues across campus. She is engaged and committed to continuous development and has numerous accomplishments over the course of her tenure with the Libraries.”
Dobrowolski has over 22 years of experience in the field of academic special collections and has held the position of Assistant Director of Collections and Access Services at SCRC since 2016. Dobrowolski’s substantial administrative leadership and team-building experience, in-depth knowledge of and drive to increase the visibility of SCRC’s collections and activities, commitment to preserving rare and unique collections, along with cultivating innovative programming and donor relations ensures that SCRC will continue to be a strong and visible resource for SU students, faculty, staff and the local and global communities.
Dobrowolski received her Master of Science in Information Studies (MSIS) from the University of Texas at Austin and has been active in the Rare Book and Manuscript section of the Association of College and Research Libraries within the American Library Association. She has progressively invested in her management portfolio by participating in the University’s Women in Leadership program, the ARL Library Management Skills Institute and the Special Collections Leadership program at the University of Virginia’s Rare Book School, among others. Most recently, she was instrumental in building SCRC’s staff and operations post-pandemic, advocating for the Libraries Module 2 Storage Facility, which was designed to provide optimum environmental conditions for the storage and preservation of unique, rare, and fragile items from SCRC, and worked closely with Libraries Advancement for the expansion of the in-house Joan Breier Brodsky ’67 G’68 Conservation Lab.
“I am honored and excited to lead such an expert and creative team in the Special Collections Research Center. One of my values as a leader in the special collections field is to continue to build on reparative archival initiatives surrounding collections, services, programs and outreach to the campus and local communities. With SCRC’s triple mission of serving students, faculty, staff and other campus constituencies through teaching, exhibitions, and research; providing access to SCRC collections to our global community; and preserving our collections for generations to come, we can take an active role in correcting, where we can, the gaps in the documented history of marginalized voices and historically underrepresented groups while also actively communicating and educating why these gaps exist. I look forward to continuing the Center’s meaningful work within the Libraries and the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC), and with the broader campus community and beyond.”
About Special Collections Research Center and Syracuse University Libraries:
Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center collects, preserves and provides access to materials that document the history of Syracuse University and our global society, including rare printed materials, original manuscripts, photographs, artworks, audio and moving image recordings, University records and more. Collection areas include activism and social reform, radicalism in the arts, architecture and industrial design, photography, plastics and the history of recorded sound and broadcasting. Located on the 6th floor of Bird Library, the SCRC is a vibrant research and learning environment for Syracuse University students, faculty and the broader scholarly community, providing access to world-renowned rare and archival collections and expert guidance in their use to facilitate personal discovery and the creation of new knowledge.