The Librarian
Christina Gola, interim dean of libraries, is “reimagining” the role of libraries on the UH campus and beyond because they are more important than ever.
By Christina Gola, as told to Staci Parks
As the interim dean of the University of Houston Libraries, Christina Gola oversees about 125 employees, approximately 35% of whom are professional librarians. A respected leader and mentor, the third-generation librarian is a past Texas Library Association president.
Previously, Gola served as the associate dean for Organizational Development, Learning & Talent, where she built an understanding of her staff’s areas of expertise and needs, and how practices and policies can be adjusted to increase success aligned with the University’s mission.
Since stepping into the interim dean role in February 2024, Gola has used her professional and institutional knowledge to spearhead crucial library initiatives that revamp how UH students, staff and faculty interact with the University’s libraries.
Growing up, I didn’t always aspire to be a librarian. But I always wanted to be part of a community committed to building a greater society. Higher education allows you to do just that.
Librarians and libraries are a vital part of my family’s lineage, starting with my grandfather, an academic librarian who served as a dean at Saint Louis University. Then, my mother, who retired as director of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Research Medical Library.
An infant Gola joins her mother in the library (left). Gola’s grandfather, James V. Jones, and mother, Kathryn J. Hoffman, at an American Library Association Conference in 1973 (right).
An infant Gola joins her mother in the library (left). Gola’s grandfather, James V. Jones, and mother, Kathryn J. Hoffman, at an American Library Association Conference in 1973 (right).
As a native Houstonian, this city and the University hold a special place in my heart. UH was in my orbit as a student at St. Agnes Academy, whether it was using the library for research papers, attending sports camps or participating in Model United Nations conferences.
I wanted to explore different places and make a name for myself outside of Houston. As an undergraduate at Texas A&M University, I studied political science, intentions set on law school and a career in government policy and constitutional law.
But, through my studies, I realized that research endeavors interested me more than anything else. I decided to pursue a graduate degree in library and information science at the University of North Texas and never looked back.
In 2009, beloved former dean of libraries Dana Rooks, whom I met through the Texas Library Association, recruited me back to Houston. Renu Khator had just stepped into her role as president of the University, and UH was on its way to becoming a Tier One public research institution. I wanted to be part of that trajectory.
Leading Into a New Era
As interim dean, my focus has been positioning UH Libraries to advance University goals and values through identifying and building partnerships across campus that keep us on track, ensuring we’re providing material that meets faculty research priorities and student needs.
Another focus area has been strategically leveraging and managing the library budget and resources. UH Libraries do a lot of fundraising and “friend”-raising. People love the public good that libraries provide. But we have to help our friends understand the libraries’ current challenges and our role in society. We do more than just provide collections of information.
“People love the public good the libraries provide. But we have to help our friends understand the libraries’ current challenges and our role in society.”
Every day, librarians are fighting for access to information on international, national and local levels. Of course, there are trade-offs of the commodification of information: Faculty publish in journals that profit from their information, yet promotion and tenure processes are wrapped up in publication. While there are some really good components, there’s also reduced access to information. Libraries are tasked with creating infrastructures and influencing policies that make information available to the public good.
A ‘Reimagined’ Library System
Libraries must evolve with the world. Research and the direction it’s going is interdisciplinary, and libraries are the interdisciplinary connectors, as they aren’t beholden to a single discipline. This one of the factors that inspired our “Reimagined Libraries” vision.
We’re looking at how we can inspire and enable students and faculty from across disciplines to engage together, including transforming and modernizing our spaces and services across all of our libraries. Recently, we hit an important milestone in completing a feasibility study of the MD Anderson Library building, which is more than 400,000 square feet. This huge endeavor took more than a year and a half to complete, but it’s given us a master plan for how to reimagine these spaces and the length of time it may take.
Since becoming interim dean role in February 2024, Christina Gola has spearheaded crucial library initiatives that will revamp how UH students, staff and faculty interact with the University’s libraries.
Since becoming interim dean role in February 2024, Christina Gola has spearheaded crucial library initiatives that will revamp how UH students, staff and faculty interact with the University’s libraries.
We’re also conducting an assessment of how our print materials are being used and how they can be reshelved to help with access and collaboration. These “reimagined” spaces and services would create that nexus of intellectual engagement we want to build.
We’re already doing this with the Digital Humanities Core facility, as defined by the Division of Research. It’s a partnership between the libraries and the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute that’s meant to encourage student and faculty researchers to engage in cross-disciplinary collaboration. It is a core facility that exists without a physical space. We want to build a space so it has a physical footprint, raising awareness about how others can engage in this work. Imagine if this space was located next to where graduate students study; that kind of visibility would attract students and faculty who don’t come into the library currently.
Information Literacy Delivered Peer to Peer
There are activities happening on campus all the time — during the day, after regular work hours and on the weekends — long beyond our librarians’ reach. Our new peer mentor program, still in its pilot year, is one way we’re able to expand that reach.
A teaching and learning librarian works with student mentors on strategies to help their peers with topics such as finding information, deciphering source accuracy and trustworthiness, and understanding when to use library resources versus other sources.
All of these skills are so critical today when we have such an onslaught of information. As UH Libraries move forward, our staff is listening to our students and faculty, engaging in national conversations about higher education trends, and forging partnerships with other universities as well as here on campus. This work ensures that our programs and services align with the University’s goals, while positioning us as an interdisciplinary connector on campus — the bridge across all of those trends and needs of different disciplines.
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