Sterling, MA -- May 13, 2024. The Eastern Academic Scholars' Trust (EAST) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of a national search for the next EAST Director with the appointment of Tina Baich, succeeding Program Director Emerita Susan Stearns. Tina's experience and capabilities reflect the organization's ambition to continue to expand and creatively engage with its members. Scott Warren of Syracuse University, and EAST President of the Board says: "At this pivotal moment in the history of EAST, preceded by its recent incorporation as an independent organization, I have full confidence in Tina's ability to lead our community forward collaboratively."

"Susan has built an incredible organization, and I'm honored to take EAST into its next chapter," said Baich. Tina will join EAST on July 15, 2024. She is currently the Senior Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication & Content Strategies at IUPUI University Library. Tina has a decade of experience in shared print, including Project Coordinator for the Academic Libraries of Indiana-Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (ALI-PALNI) Shared Print Project, co-founder of the ALA Reference & User Services Association's Shared Print Interest Group, and member of the Partnership for Shared Book Collections Executive Committee.

EAST comprises over 170 academic and research libraries, across 15 states. Its mission is to secure the print scholarly record in support of teaching, learning and research. Currently over 11 million monograph and 37,000 serial and journal EAST retention commitments are registered in OCLC WorldCat and the PAPR databases.

Matthew Sheehy of Brandeis University, EAST Vice President and Chair of the Personnel Committee, chaired the search committee. Sheehy says "We are delighted that Tina, with her experience and innovative ideas, has joined EAST as the new Director—special thanks to the search committee, the Board, EAST's staff, and especially Susan Stearns. We wish Tina great success and look forward to collaborating with her."

About EAST

EAST is a collaboration of over 170+ academic and research institutions focused on protecting and preserving print scholarly materials. By comparing the print collections of EAST Retention Partners, a collective collection of unique, scarcely held, and frequently used book and journal titles is identified to be retained by the participating libraries. The EAST Lending Network ensures these titles can be shared across the member libraries. Today over 11 million books and over 37 thousand journal titles are protected through the EAST collective collection.