This summer, Dave Richards returned home – to Missouri State University, that is. After nearly two decades away, Richards is the new dean of libraries services. He replaces former longtime dean Tom Peters, who retired in December 2024.

He started at the university in 1997 — his first dream job — heading up special archives. In 2015, Richards was in the market to become a dean and moved to the University of Nebraska Omaha, but low and behold, his second dream job opened up back home at Mo State.

“I’m so fortunate to be able to come back and it feels like home,” he said. “It feels like I was away on a very long working vacation while.”

While in Omaha, Richards helped start the Open Educational Resources initiative in concert with Open Nebraska, a move that resulted in student savings of more than $2 million over a six-year period.

“It’s essentially free textbooks,” he said, “and it is a game changer. Why? Because now you’ve curated a textbook exactly for the course that you’re teaching, and it is free to the students.”

The program realized so much success for all participants in Omaha, Richards would like to expand OER offerings at Missouri State.

Read the full transcript for more on OER and the strategic plan.