Over the course of his career, Dr. Askey has filled a wide range of roles in libraries, primarily in collection development, public services, web services, and information technology management. Most recently, he served as Vice Provost (Library & Museums) and Chief Librarian at the University of Alberta.
We sat down with Dr. Askey to learn more about his views on library leadership, lessons learned from previous roles, and what’s ahead for UBC Library.
What excites you about UBC Library?
I find it really appealing to be at institutions that have a lot of ambition as well as the drive and capability to achieve that ambition.
UBC, in particular, has an excellent library full of people whose expertise is highly regarded in the profession and on campus, and yet there’s still room to grow in terms of being influential here, and also nationally. I look forward to supporting UBC to work alongside other major institutions in setting direction and helping broad national initiatives take flight. That’s an area where there’s still room for growth, and one of the reasons why I chose to apply for the job.
What is your personal philosophy on library leadership?
At its most basic, my role as a leader in a library is to help remove obstacles, be the problem-solver and make sure the resources are there for people to get their work done.
Another big part of library leadership is the need to constantly update the perception of libraries for senior leaders, donors, students and faculty. This advocacy piece, and ongoing education, is a big part of the role.
What do you see as the biggest opportunity for UBC Library in our current research landscape?
We live in an increasingly networked world and have reached the tipping point where everything is going to happen at that scale, in terms of information creation, provisioning and access. So we need to be out there at the national level. That’s the biggest opportunity for UBC Library.
Alongside that, UBC has strong goals around international impact and visibility. It’s proud of its reputation as an institution and its ranking, but it wants to go higher. And I don’t think there’s any reason why it can’t.
“I don’t have a closed-door persona and an open-door persona. What you see is what you get.”
I’m also focused on deepening and finding new ways of working with Indigenous communities that will help us address the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action and the UNDRIP articles. A lot of great work is happening in this area already, and I look forward to supporting that as a prominent part of the work of the library.
What lessons would you bring to UBC Library from your previous roles?
I have to mention the library management platform migration from Voyager to Alma and Primo. In my career, I’ve gone through six migrations from a legacy system—some of which were green screen systems on terminals—to a modern system. Voyager was one of those modern systems, which tells you how old I am.
You have to make a lot of decisions when you go from System A to System B. Moving the data is not simple. There’s a lot of work involved, but there are huge opportunities to question and refine your processes. These projects always go well. Everyone has a big celebration party after, and a month later you’re working in a new system and it’s awesome and you never look back.
The other thing that I’ve learned from past roles is that it’s all about visibility and trust, allowing people to get to know you and doing hard work to build that trust. I try to bring great integrity to my work, meaning that if you meet with me one-on-one or see me in a large group, what I am saying and how I’m interacting is more or less the same. I don’t have a closed-door persona and an open-door persona. What you see is what you get.
What role do you see UBC Library playing in the UBC experience?
All universities have a lot of work to do with the emergence of AI tools and how these tools are changing our way of working, studying and doing research. Having the library help guide UBC and take part in that is absolutely essential, as well as finding ways to do this sustainably and sensibly. As with all technical revolutions, whether we’re talking about touchtone phones or the Internet or cellular technologies, these were all massive disruptions. And yet we’re still here.
Along with that though, UBC Library’s role is to continue providing students with a sense of place and constancy. I talk a lot about the social contract that people follow when we enter certain spaces like cathedrals, libraries or banks. Libraries are one of those great, very solid social contracts. Allowing students to feel at home in a library is a big part of helping them build a sense of identity and relationship with UBC writ large. I think libraries also play a major role in alumni attachment to universities.
What is your vision for the next five years of UBC Library?
For me, the vision and the mission for the library are inextricably linked. The mission doesn’t change every five years, and it’s not subject to brainstorming exercises and committee research. Libraries have a very specific mission, so how do we best realize that mission in the world in which we currently find ourselves?
I have this very strong desire to see that UBC Library live its name, meaning it is one library, UBC Library. It can have many manifestations, many points of contact, but we are cohesive in how we work as an organization. There’s a lot of cross-organizational work that already goes on, and I would like to see it increase.
Big institutions that have strong reputations are often the slowest ships to pivot because they’re so successful. But there are things that we need to do as research libraries that are bold and strategic to keep up, remain relevant, and provide value to our institutions. UBC Library should be recognized for those kinds of actions.
“Allowing students to feel at home in a library is a big part of helping them build a sense of identity and relationship with UBC writ large.”
Finally, there are people at UBC Library who are already known as national leaders, and there needs to be more visibility for their expertise. I think a lot of my job, as a person who travels on behalf of the library, is to be aware of what’s happening and to bring those opportunities back to UBC, so we can put our hand up as an institution to get people involved. And I really enjoy doing that.
What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?
I don’t think many people know that I’m a ballet dancer. Ballet is a big part of my life outside of work. I’ve got a very consistent practice. I put a lot of time, a lot of energy into ballet. I discovered it much later in life, but I like it because it’s a permanent beginner mindset. Ballet is not the place you go if you want self-affirmation. It’s the place you go if you want constant critique: gentle, kind, well-meant critique, but nothing is ever “great.” It’s always just something you can work on. And I think that’s a good thing to do as one gets older and more assured in their ways, to challenge that complacency.
I also laugh a lot. People who know me and have conversations with me know that I enjoy bringing humour to our work.
