UMass Amherst Libraries Appoint Theresa Dooley as Open Education Librarian

The UMass Amherst Libraries are pleased to announce that Theresa Dooley has been appointed to the two-year term position of open education librarian in scholarly communication. She began her new role on Jan. 3.

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During her two-year position as the open education librarian, Dooley will be responsible for setting the strategic direction for open and affordable course content throughout the Libraries and across the campus. She will oversee and support Library-led open education initiatives (OEI), including the OEI grants funded by the Libraries and the Provost’s Office, and will promote the use of OER among the campus and other constituencies. One of her initial strategies will be to focus on education, outreach and advocacy within the Libraries and then connect this work to the Libraries’ mission in close collaboration with multiple library partners. She will also represent the university on the statewide Open Education Advisory Council. 

Dooley earned her MLIS from Simmons College in 2020. Prior to that, she received her bachelor of arts in journalism from stony brook university. subsequently, she has earned a certificate in open educational resources (OER) librarianship from the open education network (OEN) and a Creative Commons certificate from Creative Commons in 2021. Before joining UMass Amherst, Dooley gained experience in scholarly publishing as the senior production editor and project manager for The Sheridan Group of Waterbury, Vermont from 2011 to 2018.

Dooley joined the UMass Amherst Libraries in 2018 as the learning commons supervisor and training specialist in the Student Success and Engagement Department. During her tenure as a Learning Commons (LC) supervisor, Dooley developed a peer-mentoring staffing program for students working in the LC, designed and implemented a training curriculum for Library staff and students working in the Learning Commons, and created lasting relationships between the Libraries and campus partners such as IT User Services and IT Computer Classrooms. 

While participating in the OEN’s certificate in OER librarianship, Dooley created a five-year action plan that maps out strategic open education initiatives for the Libraries, building upon existing resources and partnerships, connecting with the Libraries’ and university’s strategic plans, and once again placing the UMA Libraries at the forefront of this work. 

A few of Dooley’s recent accomplishments in the open education area include collaborating with campus partners in the Becoming an Open Education Influencer (BOEI) program in working with staff from Nelson Mandela University through Open Education for a Better World to create a self-guided course that would train learners in how to become international Open Education Influencers, as well as leading workshops educating faculty on the importance of OER through the Boston Library Consortium (BLC).