Stanley Wilder, the Kathleen and Joel Ory Dean of LSU Libraries, has been elected to serve on the board of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) from 2025-2027.  ARL is a nonprofit organization of 127 research libraries in Canada and the United States, 69 of which are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU).

According to Wilder, “ARL has an invaluable perspective to offer national and international higher education conversations, with an excellent network of partner associations and agencies. ARL’s commitment to advancing the values of research libraries enhances LSU’s ability to tackle both current and emerging challenges in supporting the success of faculty, students, and the open information environment essential for research and learning.”

He will serve as one of eight board members and is an active researcher and speaker. In 1994, he served as a Visiting Program Officer for ARL and has been publishing his research on the demographics of research librarianship ever since. He has also published many papers relating to collections and library technologies in addition to his controversial critique of the literature on information literacy, published in the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2005.

Wilder’s journey in library science began when he earned his MLS at Columbia University, after completing a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin. After graduating from Columbia, he earned an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he also launched his professional career as the manager of the Architecture and Art Library.

Later, he joined LSU Libraries, where he spent a decade serving in various leadership roles. He started as an assistant to the dean for administrative services and later became the assistant dean for technical and financial services. Following this, he spent another ten years at the University of Rochester, initially as an assistant dean and subsequently as an associate dean. During his tenure there, he helped win and lead a series of large-scale software development grant projects.

In 2009, Wilder took on the role of university librarian at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Then, in 2014, he returned to LSU as Dean of LSU Libraries, bringing his extensive experience and leadership back to the institution.

His new role in ARL promises to enhance LSU’s engagement with cutting-edge developments in the library and information science landscape.