The university librarian since 2013, Virginia Steel will retire at the end of 2023
Powell Library is pictured. The UCLA librarian Virginia Steel will retire at the end of 2023, with the search for her successor set to begin in the spring. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Catherine Hamilton
April 6, 2023 11:46 a.m.
The UCLA Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian Virginia Steel will retire at the end of 2023, the university announced Thursday.
Steel, who has been the university librarian since 2013, leads nearly all the campus libraries. She updated the system through facility redesigns, enhancement of student spaces, and the incorporation of the UCLA Film & Television Archive – the second-largest archive of motion pictures and broadcasts in the United States – into the UCLA Library administration and collections, according to the campus-wide email announcing her retirement.
[Related: UCLA announces incoming university librarian to begin work in July]
Steel has also strongly supported the Modern Endangered Archives Program, a project that preserves cultural materials that are at risk of being lost, according to the email.
She came to UCLA after serving as the university librarian at UC Santa Cruz and previously also worked at UC San Diego, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Arizona State University and Washington State University, according to the email. Additionally, she serves on the board of trustees for OCLC, a nonprofit global library organization, and was previously president of the Library Administration and Management Association, according to the email.
“I hope you will join me now in thanking her for her service to UCLA and the larger academic library community,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt in the email. “We will miss her leadership and wish her the best in her next chapter.”
UCLA administration plans to begin the search for her successor in the spring, according to the email.
