Holy Cross Welcomes New Director of Library Services

After conducting a national search, the College of the Holy Cross announced the hiring of Mark Shelton as the new director of library services. He will replace Karen Reilly, who has served as the interim director of library services since 2014.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mark as the new director of library services at Holy Cross,” says Margaret Freije, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. “Mark’s previous leadership experiences and exemplary skills will be a great asset to the library team, and his expertise in collections development, digital scholarship and library infrastructure will be a wonderful resource to support the scholarship, teaching and learning of our faculty and students.”

Shelton, who previously worked as the assessment librarian at Harvard University, brings 19 years of library leadership experience, including knowledge of collection development, acquisitions and licensing, technology and services, and space planning. He also served as the head of collection development at the Gutman Library of the Harvard Graduate School of Education from 2008-2014, and, prior to that, worked in multiple leadership roles at Brown University, including collection development, reference and instruction, media services, and library facilities and infrastructure.

“There is a lot of energy and expertise across the library staff, and I am so impressed with what the team has done and currently doing in support of the faculty and students,” Shelton says. “I am very much looking forward to working with the library staff to expand our services and collections and explore new possibilities so everyone’s great work continues to flourish. I’m also looking forward to helping students grow, think, and learn so they are prepared for what comes after they leave Holy Cross.”

Shelton earned a B.S. in applied mathematics from Lyon College, located in Batesville, Ark., and received a M.A. in library science from the University of Missouri-Columbia, in Columbia, Mo., where he was a National Library of Medicine Medical Informatics Pre-doctoral Research Fellow. Shelton also earned his Ed.D. in educational leadership from Johnson & Wales University, in Providence, R.I.

The author of numerous articles and presentations, Shelton serves as a library advisory board member for several publishers, and is the book review editor for College & Research Libraries, the official scholarly research journal of the Association of College & Research Libraries, in Chicago, Ill.

In his new role, Shelton will collaborate with academic programs and departments as well as with the Center for Teaching and the Educational Technology and Media Services Group.