Roberts Named Associate Vice President for University Libraries

By Sue Wuetcher

Release Date: November 6, 2007 This content is archived.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Stephen M. Roberts of North Buffalo has been named associate vice president for University Libraries at the University at Buffalo by Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

Roberts had been serving as acting associate vice president since October 2005.

He joined the UB Libraries in 1977 to oversee the migration of the major library units from the South (Main Street) Campus to new buildings on the North (Amherst) Campus. For the past two decades, he has led efforts to computerize basic library services, such as circulation/reserve and the catalog, and transition from print to online resources. 

He also worked with Computing and Information Technology to design and implement UB Wings, the university's first campus-wide information system.

Most recently, he oversaw the construction an off-campus storage facility on Rensch Road across Sweet Home Road from the North Campus. The new annex alleviated a serious lack of storage space in the libraries and also freed up space for other university needs.

As part of UB 2020, Roberts is serving as chair of the "21st Century Library" subcommittee for the "Heart of the Campus Project." The subcommittee is charged with conceptualizing the renovation of the existing major library buildings on the North and South campuses to meet the educational and information resources needs of a leading 21st-century public research university.

He has been an investigator in numerous grant programs funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Education and the Council on Library Resources that have focused on using emerging technologies to facilitate the sharing of costly resources and publications among research libraries, and to enhance use and access to special collections.

Roberts earned a bachelor's degree in English from The Johns Hopkins University, a master's degree in library science from UB and a Masters of Art in Teaching from Brown University.