Sarah Elizabeth Thomas is an American librarian best known for her leadership positions in a number of research libraries. In May 2013 it was announced that she had been appointed vice president forHarvard University Library; she took up the post in August 2013.[1][2]
Thomas was raised inHaydenville, Massachusetts, United States, and graduated fromSmith College in 1970. She qualified as a professional librarian atSimmons College in 1973 and received herPh.D. fromJohns Hopkins University in 1982 for a thesis on the Austrian authorHugo von Hofmannsthal and his relations with his publisher.[3]
Between 1996 and 2006, Thomas held the positions of adjunct professor of German and Carl A. Kroch University Librarian atCornell University. Between 2007 and 2013, she held the office ofBodley's Librarian and Director of theBodleian Libraries[4] at theUniversity of Oxford. As Bodley's Librarian, she was responsible for the operation of the largestuniversity libraries in theUnited Kingdom, and one of the majorresearch libraries in the world. Her previous experience in majorUnited States research libraries includedHarvard'sWidener Library, Johns Hopkins, theNational Agricultural Library, theLibrary of Congress, and theResearch Libraries Group.
She is the first woman to have held the position of Bodley's Librarian, and the second librarian (after her predecessor,Reginald Carr) also to have been in charge of the university's integrated library service (known as "Oxford University Library Services" when it was established in 2000, but renamed "Bodleian Libraries" on March 2, 2010 – Bodley's 465th birthday).[5][6] Thomas, an American, is also the first foreign librarian to have run the Bodleian.[7] In an interview she gave shortly after taking up the position, she recalled visiting Oxford when she was working at theLibrary of Congress to speak at theSheldonian Theatre. She said that she remembered thinking "I could just die then and be happy".[8] When recruitment consultants approached her about applying for the post and she saw the job description, she said, "it was love at first sight. It was everything I wanted to do, but bigger. Integration, the digital library, the estates programme, the opportunity to be inside a truly magnificent institution and have a role at a pivotal moment in its history – that was just too enticing for me."[8]
In 2007, Thomas was awarded theMelvil Dewey Medal by theAmerican Library Association, and in 2010 was awarded theSmith College Medal.[9] She was elected a Member of theAmerican Philosophical Society in 2013.[10]
Thomas is married to Peter B. Hirtle, an archivist. They have two sons.
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