Stephen Henry

Head, Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library
Stephen Henry
Photo courtesy of Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library

Stephen Henry is Head of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library (MSPAL). Henry has been with the University of Maryland Libraries since 2007. He began his tenure as Music Librarian, with responsibilities in reference, instruction, and collection development, and was appointed Head in 2015. Prior to coming to the University of Maryland, Henry was Assistant Music Librarian at the Theodore M. Finney Music Library at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds master's degrees in Library and Information Studies, and in Music Theory, both from the University of Wisconsin--Madison, and holds a B.A. in Music Theory from Youngstown State University in Ohio, where he also studied jazz and classical saxophone.

As Head, Henry guides the strategic vision of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, is responsible for budgeting and development, and has broad oversight of the library’s circulation, reference, and collection development operations, as well as of the its two special collections units — the International Piano Archives at Maryland and Special Collections in Performing Arts.

Henry is active at the national level in the Music Library Association (MLA), and currently serves as chair of MLA's Emerging Technologies and Services Committee as well as Digital Media Reviews editor for the association's journal Notes. He has published and presented widely on topics ranging from metadata for music discovery to training of student reference assistants.