Ms. Kerbel, Library

Sandra S. Kerbel, associate director for public services in the University Libraries, died from cancer on April 4; she was 50. Ms. Kerbel came to Penn in June of 2001, and was responsible for a wide range of user services in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center and Libraries serving the physical sciences, the Annenberg School, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Design, and the Penn Museum.

In a brief tenure, Ms. Kerbel left a significant mark on Penn’s library and information services. She helped guide the expansion of the Blackboard courseware system; oversaw the Library’s participation in groundbreaking resource sharing programs (EZBorrow and RAPID); and steered the creation of Penn’s institutional repository program, the Scholarly/Commons@PENN. In connection with the latter to promoted new models for disseminating scholarly information and to advance the intellectual property rights of scholars.

But Ms. Kerbel’s signal accomplishment was her contribution to the design and construction of the Weigle Information Commons, a state-of-the-art teaching and learning facility in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. 

Before coming to Penn, she held positions at the libraries of the University of Virginia and the University of Pittsburgh.

Ms. Kerbel held master’s degrees in sociology from Bowling Green State and in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh. She also received a bachelor’s in sociology from Bowling Green.

Ms. Kerbel is survived by her parents, Lola J. and Stanley Kerbel. A space in the Weigle Information Commons will be named after her. Donations can be made to the Brown Science and Engineering Library of the University of Virginia (where Ms. Kerbel helped to establish a book fund) P.O. Box 400124, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4124.