Colorado School of Mines names Jack Maness new University Librarian

Jack Maness has been appointed University Librarian at Colorado School of Mines.

A 20-year veteran of academic library management, Maness currently serves as Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Collections Services at the University of Denver Libraries. He will officially join Mines on Aug. 1.

As University Librarian, Maness will oversee Arthur Lakes Library, providing leadership and vision for advancing the library’s role in supporting research, teaching and learning across campus. His portfolio also includes the Mines Museum of Earth Science, a free cultural institution that attracts 30,000 visitors a year and serves as the state repository for Colorado’s mineral heritage. 

“We are excited for Jack to join the Mines community as our new University Librarian -- he brings a wealth of experience in academic libraries, a strong commitment to cross-institutional collaboration and a deep appreciation of what makes Mines so special,” said Richard C. Holz, provost of Colorado School of Mines. “I look forward to working with him and our library and museum team to ensure the continued success and advancement of Arthur Lakes Library and the Mines Museum of Earth Science in support and in alignment with Mines’ overarching mission.” 

At the University of Denver, Maness has been a member of the library leadership team since 2017. In his role as associate dean, he oversaw the people and systems necessary to provide access to collections and related content at the private R-1 research university, including acquisitions, collection development, cataloging and metadata, archives and special collections, information technology, digitization, scholarly communications and research data management. He was also involved in a number of campuswide projects in collaboration with the Office of the Provost and IT@DU and was granted full professorship in 2022.

Before joining DU, Maness served in various positions at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries from 2005 to 2016, all focused on science and engineering. His final role was Director of the Sciences Department, where he was responsible for three branch libraries, their faculty and staff and collections and services for the university’s science and engineering departments. While at CU Boulder, he also received tenure and was promoted to associate professor. 

“I am excited to get back to my roots as a science librarian,” Maness said. “Mines is the top-ranked institution in the state, and the library has a lot of opportunities to grow with the university. As an institution, Mines is also asking all the right questions, and I want to be part of that. Every second we’re not thinking about Earth, energy and environment right now, we’re going to regret.”

Maness began his library career at Denver Public Library, working his way up from shelver. He holds a Master of Library Science from Emporia State University and a Bachelor of Arts from University of Colorado Denver.

Maness takes the helm as Mines’ University Librarian from Carol Smith, who departed the university last summer after six years to take the role of Dean of Libraries at the University of Kansas. Lisa Dunn, Head of Research and Special Collections, served as Interim University Librarian following Smith’s departure. 

“Libraries are a fundamental piece in a larger infrastructure that supports research, teaching and learning,” Maness said. “On the research side, there’s a lot of exciting requirements around public access to research deliverables funded by the federal government. On the teaching and learning side, information literacy is more important than ever in an age of misinformation and distrust of institutions. I am excited to work with the great team in place at Arthur Lakes to figure out what’s working well and where can I build support in cross-campus partnerships.”