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Ihave been away from my library for almost a year. I have not been on sabbatical, but rather serving my campus as interim assis­ tant dean for academic affairs. My primary responsibilities included creating and staffi ng the class schedule, hiring full­ and part­time faculty, participating in new academic program development, celebrating student successes, holding students accountable for their aca­ demic transgressions, and generally telling a lot of people no. Working as assistant dean was an eye­open­ ing journey into aspects of higher education administration I never knew existed. Stepping outside the library and seeing it through a dif­ ferent lens was a gift. Not only did I develop a newfound appreciation for academic adminis­ trators, but the different vantage point enabled me to see new opportunities for the library, as well as past oversights in library service. Looking back, the experience of being as­ sistant dean transformed my view of librarian­ ship two ways. First, I discovered new ways for the library to help academic administrators with the work they do; and, more importantly, I realized how as a librarian I was oblivious to the needs of a growing campus population: part­time teaching faculty. In 1968 librarian Robert Munn wondered if academic administrators thought about the library and upon investigation he concluded, “They (administrators) do not think much about the library at all.” Until recently, I have always been disappointed and skeptical of Munn’s conclusion. Now, it saddens me to admit he was right. While “assistant deaning,” I thought very little about the library. Since it did not cre­ ate work or problems, it received minimal attention. When the day­to­day demands of enrollment, budgets, schedules, and student complaints arose, the library was simply pushed to my periphery. It was too easy to get caught in the crisis(es) du jour trying to extinguish the proverbial fires; the position should come with oven mitts! The experience of being assistant dean changed how I viewed the library’s role on campus. On the one hand, I am disappointed by how easily I forget about the library; but on the other hand, I now see new opportuni­ ties for my library to enhance the campus’s educational and social missions. These op­ portunities may have always been there, but until I stepped outside the library I never knew they existed. Since returning to the library, I took the ini­ tiative to learn about the information needs of other campus administrators and then showed them how the library could be leveraged to their advantage. For example, I volunteered my research skills and library resources to help a campus fundraising committee gather data regarding healthcare issues and trends in preparation to meet with local business owners and potential donors. I also helped our Offi ce of Corporate and Community Services gather demographic and business data they needed. Then, I showed how using a few library da­ tabases could help streamline the process of identifying potential clients. I helped another administrator use library resources to create a

A view from above, looking back, moving forward: A librarian’s experience working as an interim assistant dean