Michael Kelly, the new Director of the Center for Southwest Research was formally welcomed at a reception hosted by dean of University of New Mexico Library Services Camilla Alire.
Kelly will be responsible for overseeing and building the collections at the center. Those collections include manuscripts and personal papers from more than 600 prominent individuals who have contributed to the history and culture of New Mexico, the Southwest and the Southwest Borderlands.
The center also includes a collection of more than 40,000 books and periodicals the Meem architectural archives, a pictorial collection with more than 80-thousand images, the John Donald Robb Music Archive with more than 33-thousand entries on tape, and the official University of New Mexico archives.
Kelly is the former curator of Special Collections at Wichita State University, where he was also an associate professor. While in Kansas, he successfully oversaw the planning and development of a state-of-the-art archival facility and was a leader for advancement of digital archival development.
He served as chair of the South Central Kansas Library System, and has been involved in numerous other regional and state professional activities. He also served as a consultant for two history and civics textbooks on Kansas history.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627