Nancy Eaton, dean of university libraries and scholarly communications, felt her greatest accomplishment during her 12 years at Penn State was overseeing the three-year-long renovation and construction of the Pattee and Paterno libraries.

"When she arrived, she really moved the process forward," said Catherine Grigor, manager of public information for university libraries. "Although it was moving forward when she arrived, there were a lot of things that hadn't been decided and she took the helm and made decisions to make it the wonderful complex it is."

Eaton, who in September announced plans to retire, was appointed dean of university libraries when she arrived in 1997. She was later named dean of university libraries and scholarly communications in 2005 when a university reorganization aligned the university press with the university libraries, Grigor said.

Eaton plans to retire Aug. 31, though she will continue working until the university finds a replacement for her position.

During her tenure Eaton also helped move the libraries toward "electronic delivery of information."

"Everything you see online, like electronic journals and databases, was implemented in the last 12 years," Eaton said.

Eaton received the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award, an award given by the American Library Association for innovation and risk taking, for being one of the first library directors to use the Internet for electronic delivery of information.

Eaton also helped organize the 38 libraries at 24 campuses into one system.

"She integrated those 38 libraries into what is now a very unified library system," Grigor said.

Filling Eaton's position will be a "rigorous process," Grigor said.

"She is just an amazing administrator," she said. "I've never worked with someone who is so quick to assess situations and move on them."

The search for Eaton's replacement began last Thursday, though no candidates have yet emerged, said Blannie Bowen, vice provost for academic affairs.

Eaton has also worked at Iowa State University and the University of Vermont, among other places. Each new position was more complicated than the last, she said.

"[Working at Penn State includes] much more responsibility and [is] much more diverse and complex," Eaton said. "I think the other difference is this is one of the top research universities in North America and you have a lot of responsibility outside of the university library."

Following her retirement Eaton plans to remain in State College and serve as dean emeritus to the university.