On February 28, Dean Jennifer Cargill will retire, after leading the LSU Libraries for more than twenty-one years. A distinguished graduate of LSU's School of Library and Information Science, Cargill began her career as an assistant acquisitions librarian at the University of Houston in 1967. She soon took on responsibility for managing two science branch libraries there, and went on to hold increasingly more responsible administrative positions at Miami University (Ohio), Texas Tech University, and Rice University, where she served as Associate University Librarian, before joining the LSU Libraries faculty as dean in 1991.

During her tenure at LSU, Cargill played a leadership role in the development of the Louisiana Academic Libraries Information Network Consortium (LALINC) and the LOUIS consortium, which provides resources and services to libraries across the state. Both have had a positive impact on LSU and other academic and cultural heritage institutions in the state, and have been used as models around the country. She helped to garner more than $3.5 million in grant funds needed to support those efforts. Today, LOUIS negotiates and licenses statewide purchases for electronic scholarly resources (books, journals, abstracts, and indexes) on behalf of public and private universities and colleges in the state of Louisiana. The resources and services that LOUIS provides save the state nearly $8 million annually. She also established the system of library liaisons that serves as the framework for the extensive library services now offered at LSU.

She is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of eleven books, as well as numerous articles and book chapters. She has served on and chaired numerous committees in the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries, as well as in various regional and state-wide professional organizations. In 1990, she was honored by LSU's School of Library and Information Science as the Outstanding Alumna for the year, and she received the Louisiana Library Association’s Outstanding Academic Librarian Award in 1997.

Congratulations, Dean Cargill, on a distinguished career of leadership and service to the LSU Libraries and the profession of librarianship. We wish you all the best!