In my role as Dean, I occasionally give library tours to various audiences: colleagues from other institutions, dignitaries visiting campus, area educators and the like. On one such recent tour, I asked my guest what stood out to them about our libraries. They responded with a powerful comment about libraries as a link to the past. They saw in our collections and our archives a commitment to the stewardship of our shared history. As I took a moment to appreciate the thoughtfulness of their answer, they asked me what I saw in the library. I replied: “It's funny you ask, because I see our future.”  

I see the future every day in the faces of the students who walk through our doors. I believe that the future of our community, of our state, our country, even our world, will be profoundly and positively shaped by UAlbany students. I witness their creativity, intelligence, and drive on a daily basis in the libraries. I see it exemplified in experiential-learning opportunities, as they take up cutting-edge AR/VR and AI technologies. I see it as they look to solve great social problems through interdisciplinary collaborations in our group-study rooms. And I see it as they sit in a silent corner of the library on a snowy winter’s day, lost in a great book, meditating on some of the world’s profoundest ideas.