معرفی
Sha Towers serves as Associate Dean of Research and Engagement and Librarian at Baylor University, providing administrative leadership across University Libraries in public services, research, space planning, and user engagement. He leads the division of Research & Engagement, overseeing the liaison librarian program, instruction and information literacy, data and digital scholarship, public services for Moody and Jones Libraries, and the Arts and Special Collections Research Center.
- BA (Music), Baylor University
- MA (Music), Baylor University
- MLIS (Academic Libraries), University of Texas at Austin
Towers is a visual artist specializing in calligraphic and book arts, with his artist's books appearing in private and university special collections across the United States and featured in international juried exhibitions. He is the founder and curator of the Baylor Book Arts Collection and serves as liaison librarian to the departments of Art & Art History and Theatre. His research interests focus on book arts, calligraphy, artists' books, library science, academic liaison work, and special collections.
His scholarly output shows a consistent focus on library engagement, relationship-building in academic settings, and the intersection of book arts with academic librarianship. Towers has developed significant expertise in the 'hangout factor' of academic liaison work and has contributed substantially to understanding engagement models in academic libraries.
- President of Association of College and Research Libraries Arts Section (2019)
- Book Art Special Interest Group Co-Coordinator for Art Libraries Society of North America (2016-present)
- Peer Reviewer for Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America (2017-present)
- President of Art Libraries Society of North America / Texas-Mexico Chapter (2015)
- Fellow of the Harvard Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians (2011)
Towers has secured research funding including an Altmetric Annual Research Grant (2020) for investigating metrics for creative and performing arts faculty. He has mentored through his leadership roles and contributed significantly to library instruction and collection development, particularly in the arts. His work with the Baylor Book Arts Collection has created a significant resource for students and faculty, with over 2100 works from artists globally.
As founder and curator of the Baylor Book Arts Collection, Towers has established specialized spaces and programs supporting book arts creation and scholarship. His work with the Book Arts & Letterpress Lab demonstrates commitment to hands-on learning and creation in the book arts medium.
