News & Blog

UCF Libraries is proud to welcome two new librarians to the Knighthood starting on August 8. Rachel Vacek is the new Associate Dean of Technology & Digital Strategies, and Stephanie Bertone is the new Monographs Cataloging librarian.

Rachel Vacek

The University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries is excited to announce the appointment of the new Associate Dean of technology and digital strategies, Rachel Vacek, effective August 8, 2023. Vacek is currently head of design and discovery at the University of Michigan.

In her role at UCF, Vacek will lead the library’s re-envisioned technology and digital strategies division and build on its strong foundation to bolster technology lending services, library and institutional repositories, scholarly communication, web services, and public technologies. She’ll also work closely with campus partners and stakeholders to implement technology-enhanced spaces and services throughout the John C. Hitt Library.

“UCF is an amazing, diverse, innovative, and rapidly growing campus full of opportunities and a history of impact,” Vacek said. “The Libraries are equally as impressive and offer cutting-edge services and beautiful, functional spaces for faculty, staff, and students to learn, grow, and be inspired.”

“I am honored to join the UCF Libraries in this new role, and excited about the opportunity to lead and grow the division with a user-centered and inclusive approach in areas that support digital scholarship and the evolving technological needs of researchers, instructors, and students,” Vacek said.

As an accomplished and nationally recognized library leader, Vacek has experience in building collaborative partnerships, leading technology initiatives, and creating strategic plans. She has over 20 years of experience working in large academic libraries, including seven years in her current role at the University of Michigan where she works in partnership with library IT leadership to manage the highly complex and diverse library technology portfolio of the U-M Library. She also provides vision and direction for website and application development, user experience design and research, and digital accessibility across the library’s numerous platforms.

Prior to her work at the University of Michigan, Vacek served for nine years at the University of Houston Libraries as a web coordinator and then as the head of web services. She also worked at Vanderbilt University and Miami University of Ohio.

Vacek is a former president of the Library and Information Technology Association, a division of the American Library Association (ALA) that has since merged with two others to become ALA’s newest division, Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures.

Vacek is an accomplished scholar with a wide range of publications, and she speaks regularly at regional and national conferences on topics such as service design, user experience strategy, web technologies, digital accessibility, and the intersection of these with diversity, equity, and inclusion.

She holds a Master of Arts degree in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Dayton.

Stephanie Bertone

The University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries is pleased to welcome Stephanie Bertone ‘11 back to the Knight Nation. Stephanie will join the Libraries on August 8, 2023 as the Monograph Cataloging Librarian. 

Ms. Bertone earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema Studies from UCF in 2011 before moving forward to compete a Master of Science in Library & Information Studies at Florida State University in 2012. She has worked for Barry University School of Law Library since 2015 where she gained experience as an Electronic Resources Librarian cataloging and managing access to online resources and print materials for students and staff. Her collaborative experience with projects involving the Florida Academic Repository (FLARE) and other collection management projects will be a great asset to the Libraries. 

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