L-50. Special Collections Leadership Seminar
Meredith Evans Naomi Nelson
“It was tremendously helpful to be among a community of peers and to have so many generous visiting speakers to learn from, ask questions of, and bounce ideas off. I learned so much this week.” — 2017 student
Course Length: 30 hours
Course Week: 6–11 July 2025
Format: in person, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA
Fee: $1,495
Organizational leadership and management require a portfolio of skills and strengths that are often difficult to develop within the traditional functional areas of special collections librarianship. These skills and strengths include strategic thinking and planning, building and managing diverse collections, designing and managing facilities, fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, development and fundraising, public relations and marketing, managing through others, grant writing, data-driven decision making, and administering complex budgets. This course provides an introduction to these competencies and an opportunity to discuss and explore them as a class. Faculty from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business will visit the class to facilitate sessions on leadership. During the week, students will assess their own strengths and areas for growth and will develop a personal professional development plan.
This course is intended for mid-career librarians and archivists interested in leading and managing in a special collections context. Participants are expected to bring a laptop with them to class.
Course History
Faculty
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Meredith Evans
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Naomi Nelson
Meredith Evans
Meredith Evans has more than 30 years of management experience in food and hospitality and in libraries, archives, and museums. She is currently an archivist, librarian, and manager of cultural heritage in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the 74th President of the Society of American Archivists and has held managerial roles at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and George Washington University. She has written on the role and value of libraries, archives, and museums as advocacy organizations that support and document the human experience and the importance of maintaining a positive work environment. She deeply believes in supporting community collaborations to promote civic engagement and the preservation of collective memory. She earned a master’s degree in library science from Clark Atlanta University, a master’s degree in public history from North Carolina State University, and a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Bio »Naomi Nelson
Naomi Nelson is Associate University Librarian and Director of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University. She came to Duke from Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, where she held a variety of positions over twenty years, including Curator for Southern History, Director of the Digital Archive, Coordinator for Research Services, Assistant Director, and Interim Director. Her interests include managing and providing access to born-digital materials, exploring the new avenues for humanities research, and women’s history. She served as a Presidential Appointee to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, was a member of the 2016 ARL Leadership Fellow cohort, and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Movement History Initiative. She received an M.L.S. from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in American History from Emory University.