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It is with great pleasure and much excitement that I start this fall semester as the new Dean of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library. The wonderful library faculty and staff I met during my interview process were a major factor that drew me to Wake Forest University and the Z. Smith Reynolds Library. They are a clever and innovative group, and – most importantly to me – they genuinely care for our students and faculty.

My arrival at Wake Forest represents a return home for me. I graduated from West Forsyth High School and started my library career working for the Moravian Music Foundation here in Winston-Salem. I have spent the majority of my career working with distinctive and unique research collections in formats ranging from clay tablets to email archives. I also taught for almost a decade at the UNC School of Information and Library Science as an adjunct professor of the practice. I come to Wake Forest from Penn State, where I was the Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair and Head of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library. There, in addition to heading the library, I also served as a faculty senator and worked to promote open access to faculty and student scholarship.

I look forward to getting to know you and working with you. Early on, I plan to focus on the continuing improvement of the ZSR Library facilities to support your needs. This is the primary emphasis of our Wake Will campaign, and I hope you all will join me in supporting this endeavor.

I am looking forward to a long and productive relationship with Wake Forest!

Tim Pyatt
Dean, Z. Smith Reynolds Library