While visiting Seattle five years ago for a wedding, Chad Westra toured the 91探花. He made his way to the third floor of Gowen Hall and discovered the Tateuchi East Asian Library with its sculpted, curved ceiling and bright, big windows. The library was 鈥渆nchanting.鈥�

鈥淟ike wow,鈥� Westra, now a third-year doctoral student in UW鈥檚 History Department remembered thinking. 鈥淭his is an amazing space. I really would love to study here.鈥�

Westra has used the UW鈥檚 East Asian library for his doctoral research. He dug into the collection for primary source materials written by a Chinese dissident from the first half of the 20^th Century. In the Japan collection, he studied a natural resources map of Manchuria produced before World War II, when the Japanese attempted to colonize parts of mainland China.

鈥淪o often, I’ve been looking for primary sources to use or books from 100 years ago,鈥� Westra said. He鈥檇 check the internet and expected items to be out of reach, but he needn鈥檛 have looked far. 鈥淚t’s here, which is pretty amazing.鈥�

The is one of North America鈥檚 premiere libraries of its kind. But the space on the third floor of Gowen Hall was long in need of a refresh, said Hyokyoung Yi, the library鈥檚 interim director and the Korean Studies Librarian. After the library was named in 2020 for Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi, 91探花alumni whose namesake foundation donated to the library, plans were made to renovate. The library closed for about a year, then reopened quietly last summer and on Wednesday will host a reopening celebration.

鈥淭hanks to the generosity of the Tateuchi foundation, we鈥檝e been able to make improvements to the library that position these important collections for the next century,鈥� said Simon Neame, dean of 91探花Libraries. 鈥淭he renovations welcome visitors, creating a more open feel and comfortable atmosphere. They allow the librarians to highlight objects from the collection, interact with students and faculty, and put the library in a position to adapt and fully utilize new technologies.鈥�

91探花Libraries received its first official funding in 1937 for collections in East Asian languages in Suzzallo Library.聽The library moved to its current location in what was formerly the law library in 1976. Over the decades, the collection has grown to more than 800,000 items, including centuries-old, rare documents from the Ming Dynasty.

For the renovation, the Beckmann Reading Room鈥檚 entry way was expanded and a new, sweeping, wood-lined circulation desk built. Secure, glass-enclosed display cases allow the librarians to showcase pieces from the vast collections. The card catalog was dismantled and converted into tables, part of a set of new furniture designed to make the library feel more welcoming. In place of a row of cubicles, a long table now provides ample workspaces. And a former office was converted to a community room.

Behind the scenes, some technical services staff have joined the Libraries Cataloguing and Metadata Services (CAMS) and Acquisitions and Rapid Cataloging Services (ARCS) to increase opportunities for cross-training and professional development, but the access services staff and subject librarians still work in the library where they interact with students, faculty and visitors, and the number of staff who directly support the Tateuchi library remains unchanged.

鈥淭he future of the Tateuchi East Asian Library is deeply connected to the community 鈥� not just the students, faculty and staff at the UW, but everyone who cares passionately about the countries and cultures represented in the collection,鈥� Neame said.

Many items in the collection have been digitized, often with grant funding from foundations and East Asian government-sponsored libraries, Yi said. That preserves many fragile items and opens the collection to researchers globally.

While the library bundles China, Japan and Korea under one roof, each country鈥檚 collection has its own librarian, and the collections are a reflection of the distinct and often intertwined histories of each country, Yi said.

鈥淏eing an East Asian library, we are kind of a cultural hub,鈥� Yi said. 鈥淎nd a lot of community members in the region care about our collection, and they love to see our collections being preserved and being built and growing.鈥�

Unlike other East Asian collections at private universities that require special permission to use, the UW鈥檚 Tateuchi East Asian Library is open to all, from academics worldwide to high school students from the Seattle region, from the UW鈥檚 scholars to the region鈥檚 rich East Asian cultural organizations.

鈥淭his is a wonderful library that is open to the public,鈥� Yi said.

For more information, contact Yi at hkyi@uw.edu.

Dennis Hartmann, professor of Atmospheric Sciences, has agreed to serve as interim dean in the from July 1 until Maya Tolstoy begins as the Maggie Walker Dean on Jan. 1, 2022.

聽previously served as interim dean of the College when it formed in 2009 until July 1, 2010, when the outgoing dean, Lisa Graumlich, began her term. As an atmospheric scientist who studies the atmosphere鈥檚 role in climate variability and change, and how the atmosphere interacts with the ocean in a changing climate, Hartmann鈥檚 principal areas of expertise are atmospheric dynamics, remote sensing, and mathematical and statistical techniques for data analysis. He has been an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow and has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society. Hartmann is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

At the , Lauren Pressley and Denise Pan have agreed to share the duties of dean until Sept. 1, when Simon Neame begins his term. Pressley will hold the formal title of interim dean, while she and Pan will share the business title of co-interim deans.

As associate dean for research and learning services, is responsible for strategic visioning, policy and program development, management, and overall excellence in Access Services, Information Technology Services and Digital Strategies, Learning Services, Research Services, and Scholarly Communication and Publishing. Prior this, she was an associate dean of the 91探花Libraries and director of the 91探花Tacoma campus library. Pressley also was the director of聽Learning Environments for Virginia Tech University Libraries and held several roles related to instruction and technology at Wake Forest University鈥檚 library.

is the associate dean of University Libraries for Collections and Content, leading the areas of Acquisitions and Rapid Cataloging Services, Cataloging and Metadata Services, Collection Analysis and Strategy and Preservation Services. Previously, she was the associate director of technical services for the Auraria Library, administered by the University of Colorado Denver, which also serves the Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Community College of Denver. Prior to that, Pan was the public services librarian at the Johnson & Wales University, Denver Campus.

Neame will take the position vacated by Vice Provost of Digital Initiatives and Dean of University Libraries Betsy Wilson, who plans to retire July 1 after a nearly 30-year career with 91探花Libraries, including 20 years as dean. Richards plans to appoint an interim dean to fill the position until Neame arrives.

鈥淲e are fortunate and pleased that Mr. Neame is bringing to the 91探花his expertise in digitization, open access and preserving special collections,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淗e recognizes the important role libraries play in student success, as well as in engaging communities, opening access to research, and building partnerships through the university and community.鈥�

As dean of , Neame will lead a network of 16 academic research libraries across all three campuses, and the 91探花Press.

鈥淭he 91探花Libraries is one of the top research libraries in the country, and is a leader in advancing research, access to knowledge and promoting open scholarship,鈥� Neame said.

鈥淚 am very excited by the opportunity to work with such an outstanding team at the Libraries and Press, as well as the faculty and students at the UW, and to return to the beautiful Pacific Northwest.鈥�

Currently the dean of Libraries at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Neame leads the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, the Science and Engineering Library and the Wadsworth Library at the Mount Ida campus. As associate university librarian and director of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia鈥檚 Vancouver campus, Neame also was responsible for the humanities and social sciences library, the health sciences library and several subject libraries.

Neame has demonstrated his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, work he plans to continue and expand at the UW. He has led a number of initiatives aimed at preserving Indigenous knowledge and amplifying the voices and stories of underrepresented communities through digitization programs, such as his work with the archives of civil rights activist and writer W.E.B. Du Bois. Neame鈥檚 own research explores the intersection between libraries and museums, and opportunities for integration across collections through open discovery systems.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Neame holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in English and history from the University of Victoria and a master of library and information studies from the University of British Columbia.