Monica Fonorow
As part of Penn Libraries’ Strategic Communications team, Monica supports the Libraries' staff to ensure they have the tools and content to communicate efficiently and effectively with Penn students, scholars, researchers, faculty, staff and the public at large.
Monica comes to the Libraries from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where she led all external communications activities. Previously she has held communications and marketing roles at the Science History Institute and the Academy of Vocal Arts. She holds a BA from Rutgers University, where she majored in philosophy and minored in French, and is a candidate for an MS in arts administration at Drexel University.
The Penn Libraries is pleased to announce that Andrew Hart has been named the new MacDonald Director of Preservation. Hart is currently the head of the preservation department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“Andrew Hart will play a crucial role at the Penn Libraries, as we collect, archive, digitize, and preserve the scholarly record for current and future generations,” says Constantia Constantinou, H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of Libraries.
Hart brings a depth of leadership experience to the Penn Libraries, having directed preservation efforts for the University of North Carolina library for more than 20 years. In that role, Hart oversees needs assessment, general collections conservation, preservation reformatting, commercial binding, shelf-preparation, disaster preparedness, education, and outreach. He also collaborated with peers to build and manage a digital preservation program.
His professional service includes roles on boards and committees at the ALA Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, the ALA/ALCTS Preservation and Reformatting Section, the Academic Preservation Trust, the Association of Research Libraries, the Council on Library and Information Resources, and HathiTrust, among others. Hart’s work has been published in the Microform & Imaging Review, International Preservation News, and Abbey Newsletter, and he has been honored with awards from the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services.
Hart holds a master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, a bachelor’s degree in English and General Literature from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and a certificate of advanced study in Preservation Management from the University of Pittsburgh.
In his new role, Hart will manage the Preservation, Conservation, and Physical Processing units of the Penn Libraries, including oversight of both print and digital preservation, the 3,200-square-foot Steven Miller Conservation Laboratory, and physical processing, repair, and binding. He will revise and maintain a comprehensive preservation plan for the Libraries and investigate new strategies and technologies to address challenges to long-term preservation and access.
"We are thrilled that Andy, with his deep expertise in preservation, will be overseeing the growth of the Penn Libraries’ program,” says Brigitte Weinsteiger, Associate University Librarian for Collections. “Preservation is a core component of our mission as one of the world's great libraries of research and cultural heritage collections."
The position was established in 2007 through a gift from Charles MacDonald, a 1981 graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. MacDonald is a member of the Penn Libraries’ Board of Overseers.
“I am excited by how much we can do in preservation at Penn to enable scholarship today and deep into the future,” says Hart. He will assume his new post on June 1.
In his new role, Hart will manage the Preservation, Conservation, and Physical Processing units of the Penn Libraries, including oversight of both print and digital preservation, the 3,200-square-foot Steven Miller Conservation Laboratory, and physical processing, repair, and binding.