Emily Holmes Appointed Director of Preservation at Columbia University Libraries

Vice Provost and University Librarian Ann D. Thornton is pleased to announce the appointment of Emily Holmes as Director of Preservation at Columbia University Libraries.

Holmes, who assumed the role of Director on February 1, will provide leadership for Columbia’s Preservation division, including conservation, digital imaging, audio and moving image digitization, emergency and disaster preparedness, collections monitoring, binding and shelf processing, reformatting and reprocessing, and customer orders.  

Emily has served as Interim Director of Preservation since early 2019 and has been Assistant Director of Preservation Reformatting and Metadata since 2003.  Prior to joining Columbia, Emily served as the Assistant Preservation Librarian at New York University and Preservation Librarian at Boston University School of Theology and earned an MLS from the Simmons College School of Library and Information Sciences.  Emily also received an Advanced Certificate in Digital Information Management from the University of Arizona in 2011. Emily serves in many professional activities nationwide in support of preservation, represents Columbia for the New York State Preservation Program, and has taught several courses on preservation at multiple library schools.

“We are thrilled to appoint Emily Holmes as Director of Preservation,” said Rob Cartolano, Associate Vice President, Technology, and Preservation.  “Her experience and knowledge will be instrumental in ensuring long-term, sustainable access to Columbia’s incredible and diverse collections to support teaching, learning, and research.”Emily Holmes