Library announces Learning Commons appointments

Pamela McLaughlin
(315) 443-9788

Lesley Pease and Brandi Porter have been appointed to leadership positions in Syracuse University Library‘s new Learning Commons (LC). Pease will serve as director and Porter as associate director of the new facility.

Pease oversees the operation, located on the lower three floors of E.S. Bird Library, and will lead the development of LC programming and services. She is responsible for developing partnerships with related campus services and departments that are committed to undergraduate success.

Pease was most recently head of the library’s social sciences and area studies department. Her previous positions included head of the maps and government information department; electronic reference services librarian; and subject specialist for women’s studies, social work, gerontology, child and family studies, and marriage and family therapy. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the SUNY College at Oswego and an M.L.S. degree from SU’s School of Information Studies and an M.S. degree from SU’s School of Education. She is a member of the Pi Lambda Sigma Chapter of Beta Phi Mu, a national honor society of information professionals.

Porter manages the staffing and daily operations of the Learning Commons. She came to SU Library in 2005 as head of the professional programs and general reference services department. She was previously director of library services at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pa. In that capacity, Porter was responsible for all library operations at the college’s main library and two extension libraries. Porter received an M.L.I.S. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in information science at Nova Southeastern University.

The Learning Commons is a new library organizational unit that focuses primarily on undergraduate student services. The three-floor facility is an active and open environment that provides services and resources to support undergraduates’ academic performance, research and scholarship, and helps prepare them to enter the workforce. Services include research assistance, information literacy skills training, multimedia hardware and software, general software user support, laptop and media equipment loans, and access services (circulation, reserves, collection maintenance).