"Jim Cheng is a librarian of outstanding experience and accomplishment who brings to Starr a breadth of vision and a depth of expertise that will build on the distinguished tenure of Amy Heinrich," said Jim Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia. Heinrich retired as Director of the Starr Library in December 2008, after more than 18 years of service.

Cheng has a B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, an M.A. in Comparative Literature and an M.L.S. in Library & Information Science from University of Washington, Seattle. He joined the International Relations and Pacific Studies Library/East Asia Collection at University of California, San Diego as Director in 2002. Prior to that Cheng has held librarian positions at the University of Iowa, New York University, and the University of Washington. In 2008 Cheng was named a "Mover and Shaker" by Library Journal for his innovative work in building the UCSD Libraries' Asian film collection, film festival and symposium series. He received a 2009/2010 Fulbright Scholar Research Award to conduct research to complete his book, An Annotated Bibliography for Taiwan Film Studies.

Source: Columbia University Libraries. Library News. URL: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/news/libraries/2010/20100301.cheng.html