Meredith R. Evans, Director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta(link is external), will give the keynote address at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s 2020 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on May 9.

Evans earned her doctoral degree from the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) in 2006. She currently serves as president of the Society of American Archivists, an organization that represents more than 6,200 professionals nationwide.

“Dr. Evans has built a superlative career, and her work continues to demonstrate the essential connection between accessible archives and a fuller understanding of the world and times in which we live,” said Suzanne Barbour, Dean of The Graduate School. “We welcome the perspective she will share with our doctoral graduates.”

Evans has been Director of the Carter Presidential Library and Museum since 2015. Administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, the library maintains the records and artifacts of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his White House administration (1977-1981) along with materials related to his post-presidency and family.

Evans previously served as Associate University Librarian at Washington University in St. Louis (2014-2015); Associate University Librarian for Special Collections and Digital Programs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s J. Murrey Atkins Library (2012-2014); Director of the Special Collections Research Center within George Washington University’s Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library (2008-2012); and Curator of Printed materials for the Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library (2005-2008).

A champion of community archives, Evans’ dissertation focused on the recordkeeping practices of black churches in the Atlanta area. At UNC Charlotte, she helped launch an LGBTQ collection with ties to the local community, and at Washington University in St. Louis, she expanded the library’s Documenting Ferguson Project.

At George Washington University, she led the acquisition of more than 80 years of National Education Association records and more than a century of records for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, among other collections. In her first professional position working as an archivist, at the Atlanta University Center, she collaborated on an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to digitize materials in the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection.

While she is in town for the ceremony, Evans will meet with SILS students for a session titled, “Real Talk: What Hiring Managers Are Looking For,” on May 8 at 12pm in Manning 01. RSVP to silsrsvp@unc.edu. Lunch will be provided.

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