UC Santa Barbara has appointed Todd C. Grappone as University Librarian, effective July 1, 2025. Grappone was most recently an Associate University Librarian (AUL) at UCLA Library, where he has served since 2010.
“Todd’s clear vision and dynamic leadership will be an asset for our campus,” noted Chancellor Henry Yang. “His background makes him an excellent fit to lead our library. He brings a dedicated commitment to advancing scholarship and research, expanding library access and services, and implementing new technologies.”
“I’m honored to join UCSB as University Librarian and thrilled to work alongside such a talented, dedicated library team. The University’s world-class faculty and deep commitment to student success make it a unique and engaging campus.” Grappone said. “UCSB students, drawn here from many cultures and backgrounds, make this an inspiring place to lead and serve. I’m excited to support and build on the great work already underway, collaborating with students, staff, faculty, community partners, and campus leadership to foster meaningful progress.”
At UCLA Library, Grappone was one of the senior administrators responsible for leadership, management, policy, and planning for multiple enterprise- and system-wide departments and leadership groups. He led planning efforts to develop a Research Data Roadmap and served on a select committee to create the new UCLA Strategic Plan. Grappone served in a number of leadership roles at UCLA, including as AUL for Digital Initiatives and Information Technology, Research, and Development. In 2023, he was named Interim AUL for Collections, the Data Science Center, and Resource Acquisitions & Metadata Services, which included oversight of Scholarly Communications.
A leader at the intersection of libraries and technology, Grappone has worked to develop and oversee many large-scale initiatives in digital preservation, global collections development, and post-custodial community archives, including global cultural heritage preservation programs such as the Modern Endangered Archives Program, the International Digital Ephemera Project, and the Sinai Palimpsest Project, which used cutting-edge imaging technologies to reveal texts not seen for centuries. Most recently, he built a project to preserve damaged medieval manuscripts in hidden collections in Europe.
Prior to joining UCLA, Grappone served in library and IT leadership roles at Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of Southern California, and Occidental College in Los Angeles. He holds a Master of Science degree in Library and Information Technology from the University of Pittsburgh.
Grappone will report to Executive Vice Chancellor David Marshall and succeed Kristin Antelman, who retired as University Librarian in July 2024. The University is deeply grateful for the dedicated leadership provided by Interim University Librarian Alan Grosenheider since Antelman’s retirement.
