A notable year
In February 2025, University Librarian, Dean of Libraries, and Professor of English John M. Unsworth announced his plans to retire, after overseeing a tenure marked by a once-in-a-century project and the navigation of an unprecedented global challenge. In August he departed from the Library after nearly a decade at the helm. “I hope I left it better than I found it,” he said. He did.
On September 15, 2025, the Library welcomed Leo Lo as the University of Virginia’s University Librarian and Dean of Libraries. Lo is the 17th individual in this role. He is also a professor in the School of Education and Human Development and holds an appointment as Advisor to the Provost for AI Literacy.
During the University of Virginia’s Honor the Future campaign, which ended with the 2025 fiscal year, the UVA Library raised more than $95 million, more than in any previous Library campaign. More than 5,300 donors contributed gifts of all kinds, including gifts in kind, major planned gifts, millions in anonymous gifts and foundation giving, and over $13 million to the Library’s annual fund. Gifts of all sizes made a difference at the Library — gifts of less than $100 added up to more than half a million dollars in total.
We’ve been reporting on the progress of the renovation of UVA’s main library in our annual reports and elsewhere — from the time the building’s renewal was being considered in earnest more than a decade ago, through its closure in 2020 to its reopening in January 2024 and subsequent renaming as the Edgar Shannon Library.
John T. Casteen III, who died on March 18, 2025, will always be remembered for his two-decade term as the seventh president of the University of Virginia (1990-2010), during which he oversaw a period of tremendous growth across the University and a dramatic increase in UVA’s national reputation.