Shelf Awareness: Parker, Seasoned UWG Staff Member, Named Dean of Ingram Library Share this page
When the University of West Georgia’s Blynne Olivieri Parker first became an academic librarian, she received these words of wisdom: becoming a dean is not a choice but a result of learning, demonstrating value and waiting for the opportunity.
More than 15 years later, Parker’s hard work – ranging from curator to head of Special Collections to head of learning and research – has paid off. She was recently named dean of UWG’s Ingram Library.
“My then-dean of libraries [at the University of Washington] said, ‘You must wait to be called,’” Parker began. “I took that comment to heart and have used it to hold my feet to the ground because I am a public servant. I would wait for the time and place where my skills are best utilized. When the right opportunity comes, I feel wide-open inside and take fuller breaths. It feels like a flow state but also urgency.”
Parker said she was honored to lead Ingram Library and those it serves.
“Libraries play a unique and vital academic and social role in university life,” she explained. “Leading the library gives me the opportunity to shape a significant part of students’ campus experience.”
The love of Ingram Library is evident. During Fiscal Year 2024-25, nearly 150,000 scholars passed through its doors in search of information, expert advice on coursework and research projects, and a quiet place to study.
“Being adept at locating quality information and being adaptable in assimilating new information and in using information tools, such as artificial intelligence, are skills students need to be successful in their careers,” Parker added. “This is how libraries contribute to the big university role of teaching people how to learn and how to critically shape their ideas into products, practices and policies that change our world.”
Parker has been with UWG since 2012.
“We are thrilled to have Blynne serve in this role as Ingram Library dean,” said Dr. Jon Preston, UWG provost and senior vice president. “Her vision for innovation, commitment to academic excellence and dedication to helping students progress in their journey toward graduation make her the idea leader to guide UWG's library into the future. Ingram Library has recently renovated space to provide better service to students, faculty and staff, and they continuously seek new ways to improve. Blynne brings this progressive mindset to everything that she does, and I am confident that under her leadership, Ingram Library will continue to be a hub of knowledge, collaboration and discovery for our university community.”
photography by Julia Mothersole