Julius C. Jefferson Jr., 2020-2021 ALA president, and James G. Neal, a recent recipient of an ALA honorary membership (the association's highest honor), are among 11 new appointees announced by President Biden this week to serve on the the National Museum and Library Services Board. The board oversees the work of the Institute for Museum and Library Services, advising the agency on "general policies with respect to the duties, powers, and authority of IMLS relating to museum, library, and information services, as well as the annual selection of National Medals recipients."
The full slate of appointees include:
Joan Breier Brodsky, librarian and a book and paper conservator, who serves as a trustee of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., and the Newberry Library in Chicago. She also serves on the Board of Visitors of the Syracuse University Library and the Advisory Board of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and is a life member of the American Library Association.
Susan Lynn Gibbons, vice provost for collections and scholarly communication at Yale University, with responsibilities for the university’s museums, libraries, university press, and the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. Gibbons served as Yale’s University Librarian from 2011 to 2020, and has served on the board of the Association of Research Libraries, the Center for Research Libraries, ITHAKA, and SAGE Publications.
Amy Elizabeth Gilman, director of the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Known as a progressive leader in the field, prior to her current role, Gilman spent 12 years at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio, and is an alumna of the Getty Leadership Institute.
Julius C. Jefferson Jr., the 2020-2021 ALA president, Jefferson currently works for the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress. An active member of the library community, he has served in array of leadership roles at the local, national, and international level and a vocal advocate for improved library services and on issues such as diversity, leadership, and professional development.
Cameron Kitchin, director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, where he has led the museum team, institutional vision, community engagement, collections, exhibitions, and expansive scholarship since 2014. Kitchin has also served as Director of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art from 2008-2014 and led the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (formerly Contemporary Art Center of Virginia) from 2002-2008.
Dipesh Navsaria, a "pediatrician working in the public interest who blends the roles of physician, occasional children’s librarian, educator, public health professional, and child health advocate." Navsaria is an associate professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, as well as a clinical associate professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the School of Human Ecology.
James G. Neal, University Librarian Emeritus at Columbia University, Neal has served as a library and technology administrator at several U.S. research universities and is a veteran, active member of the national and international library community. He has received numerous awards for his professional leadership and accomplishments, including Honorary Membership in the American Library Association.
Annie Norman, State Librarian of Delaware and Director of the Delaware Division of Libraries. Under Norman's leadership, the Delaware Library Catalog was established, which now counts some 74 participating libraries sharing 2.5 million items for the benefit of Delawareans. She is the first librarian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women.
Halona Norton-Westbrook, is the Director and CEO of the Honolulu Museum of Art, the largest fine art museum in the state of Hawai’i. Norton-Westbrook has also served as Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Toledo Museum of Art. Prior to that, she was the recipient of the Andrew W. Mellon Leadership Fellowship at the Toledo Museum of Art, a program inaugurated in 2012 to train the next generation of museum leaders.
Allison C. Perkins, executive director of the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Wake Forest University’s associate provost for Reynolda House and Reynolda Gardens. Prior to joining Reynolda, Perkins was deputy director of education and interpretation at the Baltimore (Md.) Museum of Art, moving there from her previous role as education director of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.
Monica Ramirez-Montagut, director for the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York. Throughout her extensive career, Ramirez-Montagut is known for being both publicly engaged and socially conscious. In 2020, Ramirez-Montagut joined the Board of Trustees of the U.S. International Council for Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors.
