— Chief Librarian Njoki Kinyatti
Despite facing staffing and budget challenges, Library faculty and staff remain committed to providing equal access to Library services to all users regardless, of their ethnicity or gender. The Library Department plays an important role in supporting students and faculty research needs; by providing access to a wide range of resources, offering information literacy classes, and collaborating with academic departments. In spring 2025, one of our goal was to create a more versatile and cultivating learning and conducive environment for York College students. To accomplish this goal, we acted and designated an engaging space on the third floor of the Library called “the Library Corridor.” The Library Corridor offers a relaxing and collaborative environment where students can continue their research, engage in in-depth discussions, and take time to refresh and recharge. Since its opening in Spring 2025, students have grown fond of the space, with little to no increase in noise levels throughout the Library. We hope this change will transform York Library’s functions beyond resources, making it a central space for learning and collaboration while also influencing students’ academic success and retention.
The Library is a one-stop shop for information and students’ engagement, but most importantly, York College Library is a dynamic center for research and learning, and serves as a hub for resources, including print books, E-books, E-journals and databases. Delivering Library services and making sure required resources are available to faculty, students, staff, and the college community is our top priority. In order to meet faculty and students’ research needs, Library faculty continue to explore different methods to assist users; for example, we offer one-on-one or group research consultations both virtually and in-person. The Library team remains dedicated in managing and providing seamless access to both print and online resources. This includes instructing users on how to do research in various modalities, including live reference chat, and instructing users’ on how to critically evaluate their sources. For more information about the wide range of services that are offered, please visit the Library or our website. We are always ready to assist you.
I would like to acknowledge the Library’s team for their commitment and dedication to assisting users with their research. Library faculty perform multiple responsibilities, but guiding students and faculty on how to conduct research and evaluate information is an important part of their profession. Thank you to the College Assistants for their hard work in delivering services at the Circulation and Reserves desk.
Last, I would like to express my gratitude to the following departments for their ongoing support and assistance; including Academic Affairs, Information Technology, Public Safety, and Office of facilities and Planning.
Congratulations to the class of 2025 on their remarkable achievement! I look forward to welcoming back returning students and meeting new freshmen in fall 2025. I wish everyone a safe, peaceful, and restful summer holiday.
- John A. Drobnicki, Professor, Head of Acquisitions & Collection Development
As we all know, Dr. Robert Parmet, Professor of History and the first Chair of the Department of History and Philosophy, was on Travia leave during spring 2025, preparing to retire from a full-time teaching position that he began at York College in September 1967 – a truly remarkable career of distinguished teaching and service to the College. Dr. Parmet has also been a strong supporter of the Library at York College.
In the fall of 1970, when York’s first chief librarian, George M. Bailey, was being considered for reappointment and tenure, Dr. Parmet sent a letter to (then-)Dean of Faculty Lewis J. Bodi urging Bailey’s reappointment with tenure, citing, among other things, his “intense dedication to the task of building a respectable college library,” as well as “his constant willingness to cooperate with and assist the history staff.“[1]
Over the decades, Dr. Parmet also used his positions on both the York College Senate and the Senate’s Library Committee (now known as the Library and Technology Committee under the current iteration of the Charter) to advocate for Library funding.
Dr. Parmet helped to bring together Clarence Irving, Sr., founder of the Black American Heritage Foundation, and Milton G. Bassin, President of York College, who signed an agreement on March 30, 1989 for York College to “house an archive documenting the life and work of eminent Black American musicians and composers that have lived and continue to live in our area.”[2]
President Bassin, Clarence Irving, Wilbur "Buck" Clayton, and Robert Parmet (photo by Susan Voll)
The Music History Archive’s advisory committee was co-chaired by Mr. Irving and Dr. Parmet, and also included York’s (then-)chief librarian J. Kevin Barry, and music professor Dennis Moorman.[3] Many notable items were donated to the archive over the years, and Dr. Parmet worked to keep a positive relationship between the College and Mr. Irving, even though the latter was often frustrated by the lack of progress with regard to organizing the materials that the College had received. As the administrations changed over the years, Dr. Parmet would make sure that they knew of the Archive’s existence, and that Mr. Irving was still an important person to be reached out to. Lack of sufficient personnel, budget, and space had always hampered the Library from moving forward with the Music History Archive, and, currently, Prof. Mark Adams of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts oversees the collection. Dr. Parmet paid tribute to Clarence Irving’s many contributions to the community (including York College) in a 2018 article that he wrote, in which he utilized documents from the York College Library’s Archives.[4]
Dr. Parmet also made extensive use of the Library’s archival documents while conducting research for his 2011 book, Town and Gown: The Fight for Social Justice, Urban Rebirth, and Higher Education (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press), about York College’s founding, fight for survival during the 1970s fiscal crisis, and struggle to build a permanent campus.
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Cover of Town and Gown (2011)
Perhaps only those with fantastic eyesight would realize that Dr. Parmet’s signature hangs on the wall in the York College Library, along with those of other original faculty members and students. At the opening convocation of the College on September 24, 1967, which was held at Queens College’s Colden Auditorium four days before the first day of classes, they all signed a Convocation Charter. The document hangs in an archival frame on the wall outside the Library’s main office.
The 1967 Convocation Charter.
Detail of the faculty signatures from the 1967 Convocation Charter.
Although York College does not have an official “Friends of the Library” program, Bob Parmet has definitely always been considered a friend of both this Library and of the Library Faculty and Staff.
In the last year of his presidency, Thomas Jefferson wrote, in a letter to his friend and former Minister to France Robert R. Livingston, “it is now among my most fervent longings to be on my farm, which, with a garden & fruitery, will constitute my principal occupation on retirement.”[5] Many of us, however, feel that Robert Parmet will not be retiring to the life of a “gentleman farmer,” and fervently hope that he has another book to write.
1]Information provided by Dr. Robert Parmet.
[2]Copy in possession of the author.
[3]“York College to House Black American Music Archive,” York College news release, no date, copy in possession of the author.
[4]Robert D. Parmet, “Clarence Irving and the Rediscovery of Black America,” CUNY Academic Works, https://academicworks.cuny.edu/yc_pubs/209/. Author’s manuscript, and longer version, of an article published as “Stepping Up to the Plate” in New York Archives 17, no. 3 (Winter 2018).
[5]Jefferson to Livingston, January 3, 1808, “Quotes by and about Thomas Jefferson,” Monticello website, https://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/237.
— Stefka Tzanova, Associate Professor, Head of Reference & Science Librarian
Professor Diao joined York College Library as a substitute Head of Cataloguing in February 2016 bringing his expertise and 2 Master’s degrees in educational assessment and evaluation and in librarianship. Being a lifelong learner, he had been always fascinated by the fact that combinations of letters and numbers can be used to classify universal knowledge. With a major in curriculum and instruction, Professor Diao started his doctoral learning journey in January 2021 at Capella University. He has been fighting the misconception that the ever-evolving cataloguing service is not a public service. In December 2024, he finished his capstone project with a focus on improving technical services librarians’ teaching preparedness in the form of collective learning. He attended his graduation ceremony held in the Convention Center at Louisville, Kentucky, on March 1st, 2025.
The photo on the left shows the Dean putting the doctoral hood on Professor Diao, a symbol of accomplishing the academic achievement. The photo on the right shows Professor Diao presenting a traditional Chinese bowing to demonstrating his deep gratitude to the family and friends sitting on the guest seats, as well as many others in the distance, who supported his learning in the past four years. Professor Diao was on the President’s List from 2022-2024 and has been recognized as a member of the Honor Society at Capella University. His doctoral project can be found at CUNY Academic Works https://academicworks.cuny.edu/yc_pubs/375/. The adapted and abridged version is published as a peer-reviewed article in Technical Services Quarterly, 42(2), 115-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317131.2025.2467573
Anik Islam, BS in Nursing, York College (CUNY)
Fiza Azhar, BA in English, York College (CUNY)
- Jessica Jackson, Outreach & Assessment Librarian
Information Literacy (IL) skills are essential for undergraduate students and are one of York College’s Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs). But with no credit-bearing courses in information studies, how can students be encouraged to learn these skills and be rewarded for doing so? This year marked the introduction of a special collaboration with the First Year Experience (FYE) program, resulting in the Information Literacy FYE Digital Badge. This digital badge recognizes students who have developed essential research and information skills during their first two semesters at York College. Students earn the badge by attending a minimum of 3 hours of IL workshops. Once earned, students can showcase the badge on their email signatures or LinkedIn profiles to share it with prospective employers.
A variety of workshops and activities were offered during club hours during the 2024-2025 academic year. Students had the opportunity to complete hands-on learning activities such as a scavenger hunt, or learn about various topics related to IL, such as reference sources and artificial intelligence. Twelve workshops were offered in the fall semester, and 6 were offered in the spring semester, with a total of 107 and 60 students attending the workshops, respectively. Fifty-six students signed up for the FYE Information Literacy badge, suggesting students are very much interested in learning IL skills. Of those 56 students, 49 entered York College in fall 2024 and 7 entered in spring 2025. By the end of the spring semester, 22 students earned the FYE Information Literacy Badge. The students who enrolled in the spring can still earn the IL badge if they attend workshops in fall 2025, as they have their first 2 semesters to attend the workshops.
Due to its popularity and excellent feedback from students who participated, the Information Literacy FYE Digital Badge program will continue for the academic year 2025-2026. An expanded series of workshops and activities, including some specifically designed for transfer students, will be offered to students beginning in September. York Library is always looking for new and innovative ways to support our students’ development of IL skills so that they can succeed in their chosen fields of study.
- Mohammed J. Sarwar, Sr. Systems Administrator/Senior College Laboratory Technician
The York College Library works together with the Office of Information Technology to modernize its infrastructure through strategic IT enhancements for teaching, learning, and research support.
Integrated Tech Support & Services: In order to provide better support to users, the library’s tech support desk moved from the corner and became part of an enlarged reference desk, where it is staffed by Federal Work Study students who open tickets for any issues that they cannot handle.
Technology Upgrades in Computer Zone-C: The newly installed Dell OptiPlex 7490 All-in-One workstations provide advanced processing abilities alongside better energy efficiency. With the implementation of a stabilized power system, reliability improves, and ADA-compliant workstations with assistive technologies contribute to digital equity and accessibility.
Quick Print Station & Scannx CloudPak Integration: The library now offers a Quick Print Station with six optimized workstations available via institutional login credentials. CloudPak integration within the Scannx BookScan Center provides secure scanning to cloud storage such as OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox. The library supports inclusive technology services by providing integrated audio output functions that help auditory learners and visually impaired users.
High-Performance Document Digitization: The library has introduced the CZUR M3000 PRO, a next-generation, high-speed, non-contact scanner equipped with advanced features such as curve-flattening, auto-cropping, and page-turn recognition. The system integrates Multi-Factor Authentication and encrypted cloud storage to ensure data security.
Enhanced Microfilm Access: The microfilm scanner located in Room AC-2G02 provides high-resolution digitization capabilities, which extend access to primary research materials for academic use.
York College Library demonstrates its commitment to providing responsive and accessible academic technology services through its current initiatives.
York College Library Faculty Scholarship, AY2024-2025
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Diao, J. (2025). Building a professional learning community to improve technical services librarians’ teaching preparedness: Assess, act, and reflect. Technical Services Quarterly, 42(2), 115-138, https://doi.org/10.1080/07317131.2025.2467573
Jackson, J. (2024). Problematic behavior in urban public libraries: Are library policies and rules keeping staff and patrons safe? Urban Library Journal, 30(2), 2, https://academicworks.cuny.edu/ulj/vol30/iss2/2/
Powers, M. (2024). Browser extension offers speedy access to full text content. Katina, 1, https://doi.org/10.1146/katina-110524-3
Book Chapters
Tzanova, S. (2025). AI in scholarly communications and academic research. In K. Sacco, A. Norton, and K. Arms (Eds.), Navigating AI in academic libraries: Implications for academic research (pp. 17-40). IGI Global.
Presentations
Diao, J. (2024, November 1 and November 8). Professional Learning Communities: What did we learn? Presented at CUNY library faculty.
Diao, J. (2025, February 20). The Ultimate Librarian: Acccess, Act, and reflect. Presented to Faculty Lecture Series at York College.
Jackson, J., & Kinyatti, N. (Co-presenters). (2025, April 24). Welcome to the York College Library. Presented at a York College Professor 101 session.
Tzanova, S. (2024, July 17). Welcome to York College Library: New Nursing students’ orientation.
Tzanova, S. (2025, June 2). AI in Scholarly Communications and Academic Research. Presented to LACUNY Scholarly Communications Round Table.
Research Guides
Diao, J. (2024). Graduate Students: Getting connected with the Library. Retrieved from https://libguides.york.cuny.edu/GraduateStudents
Others
Diao, J. (2024) Peer reviewed two articles for Scientometrics.
Diao, J. (2024-2025) Peer reviewed articles for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.
Powers, M. (2024). Peer reviewed one article for Women’s Studies Quarterly.
Tzanova, S. (2024). Peer reviewed one book (Enhancing Library Services and User Experience with AI) for IGI-Global.
LibWire 2024 is published on behalf of York Library by Stefka Tzanova and Jessica Jackson.