Queen’s University has named Mark Asberg as vice provost and university librarian for a five-year term effective May 1, 2021.
Asberg is currently the chief executive officer of the Calgary Public Library, where he leads a team of more than 700 employees in 21 locations across the city with an annual budget exceeding $60 million. During his tenure, he stewarded initiatives to make the library system more accessible and welcoming to new audiences, for instance bolstering the library’s digital presence, ramping up virtual programming, and becoming one of the first major library systems in Canada to eliminate fines. He previously served as manager, Knowledge Resource Service with Alberta Health Services; manager, Information, Research, and Training Services for Alberta Law Libraries; and Crown counsel librarian for Alberta Court Libraries.
At Queen’s, Asberg succeeds Martha Whitehead, who stepped down in 2019 to become university librarian, vice president for the Harvard Library, and the Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. Michael Vandenburg has been serving as interim vice provost and university librarian since July 1, 2019.
For more information about Asberg and his new appointment, see the February 11, 2021, Queen’s Gazette news story, “New Vice-Provost University Librarian Announced.”
