Students may have seen her serving up flapjacks at a pancake breakfast or splashing into the dunk tank at the “We Care, We Count” fundraiser, but Dean of Libraries Diane Bruxvoort does most of her work behind closed doors, organizing and advocating for the university’s libraries.
After six years at the university, Bruxvoort announced her plans to retire at the end of March. Her work will continue to impact the university and its students long after.
During Bruxvoort’s time at the university, she helped secure the university a spot in the prestigious Association of Research Libraries— a national nonprofit organization that brings together established research facilities to address concerns in library, research, higher education and scholarly communities. She also planned and oversaw the renovation of three floors of Willis Library,Sycamore Library and the off-campus library archive.
As a young girl, Bruxvoort loved going to the library with her siblings and reading every book they checked out.
“Everyone said, ‘You can either be a teacher or a nurse,’ and I thought, ‘I don’t want to be a teacher or a nurse, but I can go to a library every day,’” Bruxvoort said. “It was a pretty natural choice for me.”
Bruxvoort earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and library science at Northwestern University, worked at the Newberry Library in Chicago and earned her master's degree in library science at the University of Texas. She then moved to work in management at two public libraries in Houston before working as the associate dean for collections at the University of Houston, in addition to working as associate dean for scholarly resources and research services at the University of Florida.
Through her vast network of librarian associates, Bruxvoort was offered a job in 2014 at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. She was frightened by the idea of moving to another country, but nevertheless left the United States three months later to start her new position as the university librarian and head of special collections and museums.
Although she enjoyed living in Scotland and was grateful for the opportunity, the distance from her relatives in Houston began to weigh on her. In 2018, she returned to Texas.
Upon her arrival, Bruxvoort heard word of an open position for the dean of libraries at a university in Denton.
“I love UNT,” Bruxvoort said. “I wouldn’t work at just any university in Texas.”
During her interview for the position before she was even hired, former President Neal Smastrek set Bruxvoort’s goals high. She recalled Smatresk asking her when the University Libraries would join the Association of Research Libraries.
“You have to hire me first,” she replied.
Bruxvoort began the year-and-a-half process of becoming a member of the ARL shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually, the university joined on Jan. 1, 2023.
“The university libraries had been on the trajectory to become members for a few years, but [Bruxvoort] helped us formalize the plan to push for membership and we were successful,” Mark Phillips, associate dean for digital libraries, said in an email to the North Texas Daily.
Bruxvoort believes the largest contribution to the university library system’s success in joining ARL has been The Portal to Texas History. Bruxvoort believes the site to be “the best digital library in the country.”
Bruxvoort also worked to expand the archive during her tenure and helped grow the collections to exceed two million items in the portal.
“I cannot take the credit for everything we’ve done here,” Bruxvoort said. “What I can take credit for is making sure we have the resources, working really hard to work with our faculty and staff here to make sure we have the resources to do what we need to do.”
Bruxvoort said the library’s advancements should be credited to her employees. With their aid, she was able to keep libraries open during the pandemic, set aside a budget to improve the Willis Library and work to raise staff salaries.
“She’s innovative,” said Rachel McMullan, Bruxvoort’s executive secretary of six years at the university. “She’s not afraid to take that step back and look to see what is the best path forward for the libraries and for the university.”
Now, after 42 years of analytical thinking and library work, Bruxvoort is “turning all of that off and going full creative,” she said. As she retires, Bruxvoort is ready to craft, relax and pick up a copy of Abraham Verghese’s Covenant of Water and just read
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