Abby Baines is currently adjunct faculty for SLIS at Simmons, Director of the Erving Public Library, and Vice President of the Western Massachusetts Library Advocates (WMLA). She was previously the Head of Public Services for Smith College Libraries.
At the Smith College Libraries Abby managed all aspects of public services including accessibility, copyright for academic materials, library circulation, course reserves, stacks management, interlibrary loan, overseeing the libraries main service points in Hillyer, Josten and Neilson libraries. She was responsible for service quality, assessment, communication, engagement, and innovation including the creative use of technology in support of public service operations. Abby started at Smith College in 2018 and was thrilled to be a part of the team that launched New Neilson Library.
Before working at Smith, Abby was the Systems & Discovery Librarian at the Harold F. Johnson Library of Hampshire College where she played a critical role in launching Compass, a three-college digital library and was responsible for all metadata reliant services used by the library. At the UMass Amherst Libraries she held positions as Coordinator of Digital Curriculum, Reserves & Media, and E-Reserves Assistant in Access Services where she implemented the Ares reserve system and converted paper processes to digital workflows. Abigail is a 2010 alum of the Simmons LIS program. While completing her studies, she worked as a Metadata Specialist for the W. E. B. Du Bois Digitization Project at UMass Amherst, and as Library Assistant for the Goodwin Memorial Library in Hadley, MA. Abigail began the Simmons GSLIS program directly after completing dual degrees in Communication and Psychology at UMass Amherst, a course which included an undergraduate internship in the University Archives.
Through these positions Abby has discovered professional strengths and personal interests in library systems, public services, workflow optimization, library administration, project management, and staff supervision. Abby lives in the city of Greenfield with her partner and dog, Weaver. Outside of work, she enjoys playing games, kayaking the Connecticut river, biking and walking around the city, and consuming all types of digital media.
Courses
- LIS 488-20: Technology for Information Professions, at SLIS West and online
- LIS 467-20: Web Development & Information Architecture, at SLIS West
Publications & Presentations
Baines, Abigail. "Making Space for the Makerspace at EPL" presented at New England Librarian Association Information Technology Virtual Conference Future of Library Tech: AI to XR, Online, June 1, 2023.
Baines et al., 2019, "Mind the Gap: Formalizing Library and Vendor Collaboration" presented at Association of College & Research Libraries New England Chapter, Portland ME, May 6, 2019.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/acrl_nec_conf/2019/presentations/6/
Baines, Abigail S., and Anya Arnold. "Five Colleges Consortia: Why We Chose FOLIO as Our New LSP." The Library Journal Webcasts. December 10, 2018. https://www.libraryjournal.com/event/five-colleges-consortia-why-we-chose-folio-as-our-new-lsp
Baines, Abigail S. "WordPress for Libraries." Journal of Access Services, 13, no. 3 (2016): 213-14. doi:10.1080/15367967.2016.1208021. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15367967.2016.1208021