Barbara Cavanaugh

Barbara has oversight of Penn's STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) libraries and library services. This includes the Biomedical Library (Medicine, Nursing, Biology); Chemistry Library; Dental Medicine Library; Engineering Library Services; Math/Physics/Astronomy Library; and Veterinary Medicine Library. With more than 30 years of medical library experience, she has developed and leads a highly skilled team of librarians in the provision of specialized services, including, but not limited to, systematic reviews of the literature, bioinformatics database support, knowledge management, bibliometric analysis, and 3D printing.

She began her career at the nation's first hospital, the Pennsylvania Hospital Medical Library, Historic Library, and Archives. She also ran the School of Nursing and Medical Staff Libraries at Roxborough Memorial Hospital. She came to Penn in 1993 as the Health Sciences Libraries Liaison. In 2001, she became Head of Veterinary Libraries, and in 2003, she was a recipient of the Veterinary Medical Student Government's Commendation Award. As head of the Veterinary Libraries, she played a pivotal role in planning the School's new, cutting-edge facility, the Steven W. Atwood Library & Information Commons. In 2009, Barbara was asked to lead the health sciences libraries, and in 2016 her role was expanded to include all STEM libraries. Barbara is now focused on planning for a renovation of the Biomedical Library, reimagining it as a Biotech Commons.

She is an active member of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries and the Medical Library Association. She was involved in projects funded by the Elsevier Foundation to support the information and medical education needs of Penn programs in Botswana and Guatemala. She has a BA from Temple University and an MS in Library and Information Science from Drexel University.