Office of the Dean

Hello! My name is Sue Polanka and I am the Dean of the Appalachian State University Libraries. I came to Appalachian State from Ohio, where I was a librarian for over 30 years, and chose App State because of our outstanding libraries, increasing enrollment and the many opportunities for growth.

For me, the academic library is a partner with the greater campus to support the success of our faculty and students. We support success in a number of ways, first by providing full and equal access to resources – resources like books, journals, special collections, digital content, technology, study areas, and a variety of services.

Teaching is also central to our mission and vitally important given today’s culture of artificial intelligence, media bias and misinformation. We instruct students on the research process, evaluation of content, the bias of sources, and the use of technology, and we assist them in all forms of creative research activities, from topic development to the final print or multimedia product.

We have a history of building campus and community collaborations focused on prioritizing the needs of our patrons.  Our team consists of 84 faculty and staff, as well as approximately 100 student employees.

As Dean, I hope to build on the strong foundation in our libraries and work with the faculty, students, and campus administrators to move our libraries into the future together. I invite you to follow our progress through our annual reports, social media, and our website news feed.  Thank you for your support of the University Libraries.