Anna Marie Johnson joined the IU Libraries as Head of the Scholars’ Commons, Wells Library, May 2019. The Scholars’ Commons connects researchers—whether faculty, staff, students or community members—to experts, resources, learning opportunities, and spaces that can assist with every stage of scholarship. This includes workshop series, consultations with subject experts as well as in technical areas such as digitization, help with tracking down a specific resource you’ve identified, and providing a collaborative space to do all of the above.
Prior to accepting the position at IU, Anna Marie was a librarian and professor at the University of Louisville (UofL) in Louisville, Kentucky for twenty-three years where her most recent position was the Head of the Research Assistance and Instruction department. Other positions she held at UofL included Interim Library Director, Interim Head of Reference, and Coordinator for Library Instruction. Anna Marie holds a bachelor’s degree from Miami University (Ohio), a master’s degree in comparative literature, and a master’s in library science from Indiana University. Along with her librarian roles, she also taught face-to-face and online classes as an adjunct in the English, honors, and communications departments. Her research interests have included information literacy, specifically student conceptions of the research process; scholarly communication; and reference services. An article which grew out of her sabbatical work was recently published in Reference and User Services Quarterly and she has been an invited speaker in the Library Connect webinar series and the Boston Library Consortium Expanding Knowledge series. She is a native Hoosier, having grown up near Bloomington, and is delighted to be able to return.