Irene M. H. Herold, Ph.D., dean of the VCU Libraries and University Librarian, has announced her decision to retire, effective August 1, 2026.   

Herold came to VCU in 2021 and has focused her deanship on advancing student and faculty success. In a formal announcement regarding her retirement, Art Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D., MBA—the interim executive vice president and provost—honored Dean Herold’s legacy, stating: “Her accomplishments include expanding Open Educational Resources (OER) to reduce textbook costs and championing VCU Publishing to support the scholarly work of students and faculty. She also established a competitive donor-funded award enabling students to attend the nation’s premier library conference, providing unparalleled opportunities to engage with librarians, authors and leaders in the field. In addition, she created a summer-long donor-funded Book Art Residency that offers students intensive artistic development, research experience and technical training under the mentorship of a practicing book artist. Most recently, she oversaw the development of a conceptual design for expanded Special Collections and Archives space on Cabell Library’s fourth floor, positioning the Libraries for future growth.”

Irene Herold’s time at VCU is the capstone of an exemplary career in academic library leadership. During her 30-plus year career, she held leadership posts at  the College of Wooster, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Keene State College; Daniel Webster College and Monmouth College. 

National leadership roles include active membership in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), having served as an elected board member of the latter association from 2023-2025. She served as a nationally elected board member (2011-2015) and then as president (2015-2018) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association. 

She is the author of two books, Leading Together: Academic Library Consortia and Advocacy and Creating Leaders: An Examination of Academic and Research Libraries Leadership Institutes, as well as many journal articles and book chapters on academic libraries and library leadership.

A national search for a new leader for VCU Libraries will be conducted.