NEWS Malin Josefsson will become the new Library Director at Umeå University Library from 1 January 2026. This was decided by the Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University on Friday 19 December following a unanimous recommendation from the Library Board and a unanimous recommendation from the recruitment group. Malin Josefsson has been serving as acting Library Director at the library since the summer of 2024.
"With her strong leadership and extensive network, Malin Josefsson will be a significant force in the continued development of Umeå University Library, which is currently undergoing major changes in terms of both premises and organisation. We in the management team are confident that our wonderful and important university library is now in safe hands under the leadership of our new library director," says Tora Holmberg, Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University.
Malin Josefsson has many years of experience in senior management within library services, most recently as head of department at the Medical Library at the University Hospital of Umeå and, for the past year and a half, as acting library director at Umeå University Library. She is a librarian by training and has held senior positions at the library since 2015.
Malin Josefsson will become the new Library Director at Umeå University Library from 1 January 2026. Photo: Linus Talltjärn
"I am both delighted and proud to have been entrusted with the task of leading Umeå University Library. It is a task I am taking on with great commitment and confidence. There is no shortage of challenges, both in the long and short term, but there are also exciting opportunities," says Malin Josefsson, continuing:
"After many years of service at the library, I know what drive and expertise there is, and I am therefore really looking forward to developing the business together with all my colleagues. The timing couldn't be better, given the vision work currently being carried out at the university."
Umeå University Library is the largest academic library in northern Sweden and provides services to both students and employees at Umeå University, but is of course also open to the public. The library is currently undergoing an exciting phase of renovation to better meet the needs of visitors and accommodate its growing collections.
Umeå University Library has its origins in the ‘Scientific Library in Umeå’, which was established in 1950 and was located at Umeå City Library. The government then decided that the Ministry of Justice's review copies should be sent to Umeå, the so-called fifth copy of all Swedish publications. This is also said to be one of the reasons why Umeå eventually got a university.
When the government decided to establish a medical college in Umeå in 1958, a medical library was also created. When Umeå University was inaugurated in 1965, Umeå University Library had already been in existence for a year.