06/23/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/23/2025 13:03
Lesliediana Jones has been selected to serve as director of the Wayne State University Arthur Neef Law Library, effective Aug. 15. Jones joins Wayne State from the Harvard Law School Library, where she has served as associate director for public services since 2022.
"Lesliediana brings strong leadership in developing innovative services for law libraries," said Paul Bracke, dean of the University Libraries and School of Information Sciences. "Plus her connection to Wayne State as an alumna of both our School of Information Sciences and Law School will allow her to work effectively with our academic community from day one."
At the Harvard Law School Library, Jones oversaw public services, faculty research support, and student instructional services. She also served as interim assistant dean of library and information resources from 2023-24, managing the complete operation of the law library including budgeting, collections and special collections. She previously spent more than two decades at George Washington University Law School's Jacob Burns Law Library, where she developed a fee-based document delivery program and managed digital projects and copyright compliance.
Jones is a recognized leader in intellectual freedom advocacy, currently serving as vice president of the Freedom to Read Foundation. She recently completed her tenure as chair of the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee. Her commitment to intellectual freedom and library advocacy aligns perfectly with the evolving challenges facing academic law libraries.
Jones holds a master's in library and information science and a juris doctor from Wayne State, along with an bachelor of arts from the University of Michigan. Her deep Detroit connections, as well as her wide-ranging understanding of both legal education and library science, make her exceptionally qualified to lead the Arthur Neef Law Library into its next chapter.
"After many years working in law libraries in Chicago, Washington D.C. and Cambridge, it feels like a full circle moment to come back to the place where my legal career began," said Jones. "The prospect of working with the law library staff on the next iteration of the Neef Law Library is exciting."