NW Missouri Times

Brandy Brady has been appointed as the new director of library services and operations at Northwest Missouri State University's B.D. Owens Library. Brady, who has been part of the university staff since 2015, officially took on her new role on October 1, following the resignation of Dr. Ed Walton in June.

Dr. Jay Johnson, Northwest’s associate provost for academic operations and undergraduate studies, praised Brady's appointment: “Ms. Brady is a valued resource for our B.D. Owens Library,” he stated. “Her depth of knowledge and years of experience will be a great asset in her new leadership role. I am very excited for her and am confident that she will do everything to ensure that Northwest will continue to have an outstanding library for our students, faculty, staff and community for many years to come.”

In her position as library director, Brady will lead strategic initiatives in collaboration with the university's academic units while supporting its mission. Her responsibilities include overseeing state-of-the-art services and resources at Owens Library and managing programs that facilitate student learning and scholarly activities.

Brady began her career at Owens Library as an electronic resource manager before advancing to roles such as assistant library director for collection development and information services. Additionally, she is an adjunct instructor teaching principles of management and provides digital literacy instruction across various courses at the university.

Before joining Northwest Missouri State University, Brady was a district librarian for North Nodaway R-VI School District. She holds a bachelor's degree in personnel management and an MBA with a human resource management emphasis from Northwest Missouri State University, along with a master's degree in library science from Clarion University in Pennsylvania.

“I’ve always loved libraries because it’s like solving a puzzle when you do research and find the right thing,” said Brady about her passion for libraries. She added, “I like the one-on-one connection with students and understanding where they are coming from. Knowing that helps me understand how to better support them from the library perspective.”

The B.D. Owens Library boasts over 123,000 books, documents, and bound periodicals alongside nearly 66,675 electronic periodicals available through platforms such as EBSCOhost and Overdrive.