Martha Mahard Appointed Acting Librarian of the Fine Arts Library

Martha Mahard, curator of the Visual Collections in the Fine Arts Library, was named acting librarian of the Fine Arts Library while a search is under way to find a permanent replacement for Jeffrey Horrell, librarian of the Fine Arts Library, who has been named associate librarian of collection in the Harvard College Library.

Mahard, who previously served as visual resources librarian at the Frances Loeb Library of the Graduate School of Design and as assistant curator and Manuscript Cataloger in the Harvard Theatre Collection, has a distinguished record in librarianship. She is currently a member of the HCL Digital Library Initiatives Program working group, and chair of the HUL Visual Resources Union Catalog Resources Steering Committee.

In the last few years she has chaired the Librarians' Assembly, the HUL Professional Development Committee, and the Photo Curators Group. She has taken an active role in professional organizations; published on theater and dance history and given many lectures and workshops; and served on panels discussing topics in visual resources, theater history, and dance history. Mahard received a B.A. in English from Barnard College (Columbia University), M.A. in theater history from Tufts University, M.S. in library and information science from Simmons, and D.A. (Doctor of Administration) from Simmons. She is currently an adjunct faculty member of the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

Mahard commented, "While my colleagues and I will miss Jeff Horrell's leadership, we plan to maintain the programs he helped implement and to continue our efforts to serve our constituents to the best of our abilities during this time of transition. We have many challenges ahead of us this year."