Library Employees

UC Santa Barbara Library has been named a recipient of the 2026 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award by the American Library Association (ALA). Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious honors bestowed in the library profession, the award recognizes outstanding public relations efforts that elevate the visibility and impact of library services.

For the second year in a row, UCSB Library received major library association awards in recognition of its outstanding communications:

He is popularly known as the patron saint of the environmental movement, the father of nonviolent resistance and the famously secluded hermit of Walden Pond. But the myth of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) – often conveyed by inspirational quotes on coffee mugs, T-shirts and refrigerator magnets – misses the complex, highly social and fiercely engaged man behind the legend.

UCSB Library received five awards in 2025 in recognition of its outstanding communications:

UC Santa Barbara has appointed Todd C. Grappone as University Librarian, effective July 1, 2025. Grappone was most recently an Associate University Librarian (AUL) at UCLA Library, where he has served since 2010. 

On October 28, the University of California recognized the UC Santa Barbara Library and the UC San Diego Library with the Yvonne Tevis UC Collaboration Silver Award at the UC Tech 2024 Conference in Davis.

UC Santa Barbara has appointed Alan Grosenheider Interim University Librarian, effective August 1, 2024. Kristin Antelman retired as University Librarian at the end of July after serving in the role for six years.

B Arriaga was hired as the Library’s first Makerspace Student Assistant in spring of 2022 and transitioned to a limited-term Makerspace Assistant position after graduating in fall of 2022. As a queer and neurodivergent person, B was looking for a role that suited their talents and provided a welcoming and creative learning experience, both of which the position offered. 

Tom Brittnacher has worked at the UCSB Library for eight years, previously as the Geospatial Data Curator and then Geospatial Collection Strategist. On February 1, he became the Library’s first Curator of Geospatial and Digital Collections.

In this new role, Tom will not only be responsible for developing a holistic collection development and management strategy for geospatial collections but also will play a key role in making UCSB Library's digital and born-digital collections content more discoverable and accessible.   

​Meet Stewart Engart

Since the UCSB Library launched a project in 2002 to record and digitize its Cylinder Audio Archive, the archive has grown to become the largest online collection of downloadable historic sound recordings. 

This work to preserve the earliest commercial form of recorded sound and make it broadly available to download or stream for free wouldn’t be possible without the help of dedicated students like Stewart Engart.