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Gina Costello
Associate Dean of LSU Libraries Selected for Prestigious UCLA Fellows Program

Gina Costello
Gina Costello, LSU Libraries' Associate Dean for Technology and Special Collections; Credit: Behnoush Tavaolinia, LSU

Gina Costello, associate dean for technology and special collections for LSU Libraries, has been named a 2024 UCLA Library Senior Fellow. She is one of 20 leaders from academic libraries across the nation selected for the competitive program.  

Established in 1982, the UCLA Library Senior Fellows program is the longest-running library leadership development program in the field. Held biennially in July, the three-week residential program helps top U.S. and Canadian library leaders develop strategic thinking, explore management perspectives, and advance practical and theoretical approaches to a variety of issues confronting academic institutions and libraries. One in three UCLA Library Senior Fellows has advanced to become library directors.

According to Stanley Wilder, dean of LSU Libraries and one of Costello’s nominators for the program, “Research librarianship remains in a state of nearly constant change. It is essential that library leaders put systematic effort into remaining current and honing their tactical/strategic skills. LSU’s path to excellence will probably always be owed to working smarter as opposed to richer, and Gina’s participation in this program will enhance our library’s ability to succeed on these terms. Gina will help us set new standards for serving LSU’s teaching and learning functions, and our larger community as well.”

Costello has worked at LSU for nearly 20 years, most of which have been in management and leadership roles. As the first UCLA fellow from LSU, Costello is enthusiastic about the program and the connections it will bring to the Libraries and university. 

“I look forward to participating in the program because I believe in the value and effectiveness of building a cohort of leaders who can exchange ideas and bring unique perspectives to the broader conversation about leadership in libraries. LSU has supported my career in many ways, and I am grateful to have this incredible opportunity to develop my leadership skills and make connections with peer library leaders," Costello said.

As Costello embarks on the UCLA Library Senior Fellows program, her dedication to advancing library leadership and commitment to excellence will undoubtedly make an impact on LSU and the broader academic community.

two women view a large map on a table
Architecture Professor Collaborates with LSU Special Collections on North Baton Rouge Research

Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, Assistant Professor of Architecture and LSU Libraries Special Collections Faculty Fellow, collaborated with LSU archivists, librarians, and other fellows to develop archives-centered curriculum. The multi-faceted support of the fellowship enabled Capra-Ribeiro to conceptualize a special collections research project for his Graduate Design Studio, “Urban Renewal Catalysts: Architectural Strategies to Pursue Spatial Equity.” 

eight people crowd around a table of archival materials
Leah Duncan describes items from the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Historic Collection. Students, from left to right: Morgan Mills, Masood Koochaki, Joseph Schwartzenburg, McKenzie McDavid, Toska Gamble, Sadia Shatyi, Adrianna Jordan, and Sanaz Salajegheh
two people look at a map on a table
Architecture students McKenzie McDavid and Toska Gamble examine the 1936 “Intra-Urban Migration: Baton Rouge” maps, from the L. J. Voorhies Blueprints Collection.

This spring, Capra-Ribeiro implemented the project, tasking his master's in architecture students with pursuing archival research about North Baton Rouge and presenting their findings in a short video. Before the course began, Capra-Ribeiro worked with Leah Wood Jewett, LSU Special Collections Exhibitions Manager, to select collections representing North Baton Rouge. During the course, Leah Duncan, Digital Engagement and Educational Services Librarian, guided students in developing necessary archival research knowledge. At the project's end, students exhibited their videos in the Clark and Laura Boyce Gallery in Julian T. White Hall.

Students in Capra-Ribeiro's design studio reflected that the project allowed them to practice new skills, especially the ability to engage in an ongoing discovery process. 

Students also appreciated the opportunity to engage with primary sources, citing their use of historic maps, ephemera published by Baton Rouge non-profits, and neighborhood newspapers. 

a large class gathers around a TV screen
McKenzie McDavid speaks to students visiting the final exhibit in the Clark and Laura Boyce Gallery in Julian T. White Hall.

However, the architecture students gained insight that surpassed practical research skills; they explained that encountering archival materials sparked a personal connection with their topics and led them to recognize their responsibility to help communities flourish. McKenzie McDavid said that engaging with archival materials helps future architects understand the history of a space and “better connect to the feel of ‘what was.’” Morgan Mills shared that the experience made him feel a sense of “kinship” with past architects and led him to realize that “any desire to solve some social, spatial, or civic issue needs to [involve] researching accounts of people who have been working on those same issues in previous decades.” 

LSU Libraries Special Collections looks forward to fostering new learning experiences with our second year of the Special Collections Faculty Fellowship. The program is designed to enable digitally engaged and archive-centered teaching across campus by providing hands-on workshops, ongoing guidance and support from Libraries’ partners, and access to archival collections and digital tools. LSU teaching faculty members are invited to apply on the Special Collections website.  

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