In her new role as Communications Manager at the John Carter Brown Library, Katherine Goldman looks forward to enhancing library outreach and engagement as well as continuing her work with JCB Director and Professor of History Karin Wulf. 

"I transitioned to my new role as the Communications Manager at the John Carter Brown Library in September 2023, and I am truly so pleased to be here. It has been wonderful to join the team at the JCB and to contribute to the ongoing strategy to enhance outreach and engagement, particularly in the context of the efforts that Director Karin Wulf has spearheaded to expand access. The Library already had a very engaged social media and web audience when I arrived, and folks have responded very enthusiastically to our blog posts and other communications. That has been very gratifying. It has been great to let folks know about the physical changes to the library -particularly the upgraded entrance, which is now accessible to all- and about the ongoing process of digitizing the collection so that people all over the world can explore the JCB’s resources.

One really fascinating aspect of working at the JCB is the fact that there is always something new here even though the Library has maintained its focus on the western hemisphere in the 15th-19th centuries. For example, our Director recently published a piece about Mary Brown Vanderlight, the Brown brothers’ sister, who had been overlooked and made invisible all these years. Over the past several weeks, we have published companion pieces about the various threads of this story on our website. It is very exciting to be part of a place that is part of history and also makes history.

I have very much enjoyed helping to organize events at the Library and welcome newcomers. There is nothing quite like watching someone’s reaction the first time they come through the main entrance to the JCB! However, I am really looking forward to working with our Director and  Associate Director for Digital Asset Management Pedro Germano Leal to develop and unveil the various elements of Americana, our entirely new digital front door, which offers access to thousands of items from our collection to scholars no matter where they are located. I believe that my role as Communications Manager will be integral to increasing engagement with the collection using digital tools. It is a challenging and very rewarding time to be at the Library."

Visit the John Carter Brown Library website to explore a variety of new digital collections