(Wolfville, NS) -- Dr. Dale Keefe, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, announced today that Ms. Heather Saunders will be appointed Dean of Libraries and Archives at Acadia University.

“It's my pleasure to welcome Ms. Saunders to Acadia to this revised role,” said Keefe. “She brings to the position a wealth of library management experience in Canada and the US. I know she is excited to join the Acadia family and support the library and archives as a hub of service to the campus and community. I thank the members of the search committee for their work.”

Currently, Saunders is serving as the Copyright and Scholarly Communications Librarian at the University of Winnipeg, where her portfolio includes oversight of the institutional repository. Recently, Saunders was Director of the Ingalls Library at the Cleveland Museum of Art, one of the largest art museum libraries in the US and a partner with Case Western Reserve University in supporting graduate students and faculty in art history and museum studies.

“It is an honour to be appointed the Dean of Libraries and Archives at Acadia University” said Saunders. “I am excited to support the library and archives research resources and personalized service supporting students' transformative experiences at one of the most reputable universities in the country. After moving back to Canada amidst the disruption of COVID-19, I cannot imagine a more serene place to set down roots than the Annapolis Valley.”

Her early career includes work at primarily undergraduate universities, including Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, as Manager, Reference and Information Services and ultimately as Manager, Digital Resources and Information Services, and simultaneously, as sessional art history instructor; and at Purchase College (State University of New York), as Faculty Art Librarian.

Previously, she worked as Archives Project Manager at White Water Gallery in North Bay, Ontario. Saunders holds a Bachelor's degree with high distinction in Art and Art History and Master's degrees in Library and Information Studies and the History of Art from the University of Toronto.

Saunders' professional interests include open access, grey literature, indexing, and social justice. Outside of librarianship, she is working towards a foundation certificate in Art Law from the Institute of Art and Law in Builth Wells, UK.

Saunders is also an artist who has exhibited in the past year at the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto, and with Erin Finley (OCAD University) at the University of Madison-Wisconsin and Utrecht University.

Saunders will assume her position on July 15 and move to the area with her husband, Anthony Tremblay.