Madeline M. Kelly

Madeline Kelly is Director of Collections at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, where she leads units responsible for acquisitions, course reserves, resource sharing, cataloging, circulation, collections assessment, and maps.

Previously, she served as Head of Collection Development for the University Libraries at George Mason in Fairfax, VA. She has experience in public services, preservation, and collection development, but is most interested in finding practical and sustainable ways to assess the quality and value of library collections and make sure they best support the needs of the local user community. Before assuming her management role, Kelly developed and implemented a comprehensive collection assessment program for Mason. Her article, Applying the Tiers of Assessment: A Holistic and Systematic Approach to Assessing Library Collections, describes the Mason approach. Since 2014, she has given numerous online and in-person presentations on holistic collections assessment, including a half-day workshop at the 2017 NASIG conference in Indianapolis, and continues to explore ways to assess and manage library collections sustainably. Other professional interests include preservation and emergency planning, workplace mentoring, and social justice and equity issues.

Prior to working at Mason, Kelly worked at Trinity Washington University (Washington, DC), Wheelock College Library (Boston, MA), and the Watertown Free Public Library (Watertown, MA). She has also worked in retail and agriculture. She holds a BA from the University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA) in English and Spanish and received her MLS from Simmons College (Boston, MA).