Gina Costello has been named LSU Libraries Associate Dean for Technology and Special Collections. She has served as Associate Dean for Technology Initiatives since May 2015 and was appointed as Interim Associate Dean for Special Collections in May 2017. In this role Costello will oversee the strategic direction of the Libraries’ website, application and software development, systems and desktop support, digitization, digital scholarship lab, university archives, rare books and manuscripts acquisitions and processing, and special collections public services and outreach.

“I am excited about the vision and experience Gina brings to administering these two strategic and deeply interrelated areas of LSU Libraries,” says Dean of Libraries Stanley Wilder. “Gina has already managed to reposition them in ways that make them more innovative and impactful than they have ever been before.”

In 2004, Costello began her career at LSU Libraries as the Digital Services Librarian in Special Collections. She served as Head of Digital Services and Reformatting and administered several large-scale grant projects in Special Collections before becoming associate dean.

Under Costello’s direction during the past three years, the Libraries has built an innovative technology team that has enabled LSU to support and develop the Louisiana Digital Library and to implement technological solutions for many areas of the Libraries. She brings the same energy and enthusiasm to Special Collections, where expanding manuscripts and books collecting areas to address 21st century issues, fostering donor relations, and investing in facilities are priorities.

“It is my honor to lead Special Collections and Technology Initiatives,” says Costello. “I look forward to working with our talented staff to bring creative solutions to technology issues and to support the preservation and access of the university’s world-renowned special collections.”