PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 2006

CONTACT: Jennifer Hanna
301/405-9336
jhanna@umd.edu

NEWS FROM THE MICHELLE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS LIBRARY
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

College Park, MD – Vincent J. Novara is the newly appointed Curator of Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library (MSPAL) at the University of Maryland, Constance Mayer, head of MSPAL, announced. Bonnie Jo Dopp, Curator of SCPA for ten years beginning in 1996, will assume new, expanded duties as Librarian, Special Projects in Performing Arts.

Vin Novara, who was previously Curator for Media Collections at MSPAL and has 13 years’ experience working with performing arts archival collections, will be the primary contact for SCPA which, under this new leadership, will also include media collections. Novara earned both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Maryland.

Bonnie Dopp will expand her current responsibilities for reference, bibliographic instruction and outreach in music, theatre and dance and will also assist the head of the library with collection assessment in music. Dopp earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from American University, and two master’s degrees from the University of Maryland: one in library science and one in music.

The University of Maryland (UM) is the only nationally-ranked public university in the Baltimore/Washington area. With a total student enrollment approaching 40,000, the University is supported in its academic endeavors by the University of Maryland Library System, which is comprised of eight libraries and more than three million volumes. The UM Library System is the largest library system in the state.

The UM Libraries have an annual budget of about $23 million, of which ten percent is dedicated to electronic resources. The Libraries currently hold 247 licensed databases, 230 open-access databases, 17,000 full-text e-journals and 107,000 full-text e-books. The Special Collections at the UM Libraries also provide access to a broad array of extraordinary research materials.

The UM enjoys a growing national reputation as a top research University, and the Libraries support a top-notch faculty that includes 23 National Academy members, two Nobel Prize winners, six Pulitzer Prize winners, and four Fulbright Scholars, among others.