Ruth-Ellen St. Onge Promoted to Associate Curator of Collections

Rare Book School is pleased to announce the promotion of Ruth-Ellen St. Onge to the position of Associate Curator of Collections and Special Assistant to the Associate Director.

Ruth-Ellen first joined the RBS staff in June of 2015. She was graduated from the University of Toronto with a Ph.D. in French and an MIS in information studies and library science; both her doctoral and master’s level studies were carried out in conjunction with Toronto’s collaborative program in Book History and Print Culture. During the past two-and-a-half years and in the role of RBS’s Assistant Curator of Collections, Ruth-Ellen has considerably developed the School’s teaching collections by working closely with RBS’s staff and international faculty. In 2016 and 2017, she spearheaded the development of the School’s new collections database, Silva, and led the search for RBS’s Florence Fearrington Rare Materials Cataloger—all part of a collections revitalization initiative that she undertook with RBS’s Associate Director and Curator of Collections, Barbara Heritage. “Ruth has been an invaluable member of our team from day one,” remarked Heritage. “The collections have thrived under her care, as have our collections staff members and colleagues. Her contributions to RBS have enriched the School’s community in so many ways. She’s a real bridge builder, and we are extremely fortunate to have her here at RBS and at UVA.” In her new role as Associate Curator, Ruth-Ellen is shaping and expanding RBS’s student-led exhibition program. In the spring of 2018, she will oversee and co-curate an exhibition on graphic novels and comic books with a team of four UVA students.

A native of Canada and an active leader in the international bibliographical community, Ruth-Ellen serves as the President of the Bibliographical Society of Canada, as a member of the Program Committee of the Bibliographical Society of America, and as a member-at-large of the executive council of the Canadian Association for the Study of Book Culture.