Dear Colleague,
It is with great enthusiasm that I write to all of you, the members, users, partners and the entire Lyrasis community. Some of you may already know me through my decades of work in the library and technology fields, and to some of you I am likely a new face. Regardless, I am thrilled to be serving you as the new CEO of Lyrasis, a role which I hope will put us in close collaboration in the years to come.
I sought this position because I believe Lyrasis is uniquely positioned to create trusted, transformative at-scale services that can change the way we work in libraries, archives, museums, research communities and collections-holding institutions of all types. I believe Lyrasis has a powerful role to play in convening our community, fostering innovation, unifying technologies, supporting new and existing content models and keeping costs manageable for all. Together, we can build and sustain programs, technologies and initiatives that will increase the impact of the work you do in your constituent communities each day.
Lyrasis is home to a wide array of vital community programs, from content services to technology hosting, scholarly communications initiatives, and community-governed open source technologies. These programs have become the backbone of many collections-holding institutions worldwide. My role as CEO will be to work directly with you to bring these programs together in a way that serves you, our members, expands your reach, supports our partners, unifies the user experience and sustains these programs so that they remain healthy and available so long as the community needs them.
My focus and commitment in all my roles have been on creating and supporting community efforts to increase access to information and knowledge in ways that are equitable, sustainable and mission-driven for libraries, archives and all collections-holding organizations. My work in helping to establish the HathiTrust, my tenure as an academic librarian at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia, as well as my deep participation in community governance, have all taught me that it is of the utmost importance to center trust, transparency and open communication within our communities.
I am committed to creating that culture both within Lyrasis, for our expert and highly valuable team, and for all the communities we serve. To that end, I would like to invite you to join me for one of my upcoming office hours sessions, all conducted online.
I would also love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me via email at john.wilkin@lyrasis.org with any questions or feedback. I look forward to working with all of you.
Before I sign off, I would like to thank the Lyrasis Board of Trustees for entrusting me with this new position, and the entire Lyrasis staff for welcoming me. Their tireless work is a clear demonstration of the value and potential of this organization. I believe in Lyrasis and I am delighted to join this fantastic team.
Sincerely,
John Wilkin
CEO of Lyrasis