New York, NY, April 2003 -- Effective immediately, Heike Christiane Kordish has been appointed the Director of The New York Public Library’s Humanities and Social Sciences Library, it was announced by William D. Walker, Senior Vice President and Andrew W. Mellon Director of The Research Libraries. Ms. Kordish began her career at The New York Public Library in 1987, serving until recently as the Deputy Director of The Research Libraries. She succeeds Rodney Phillips, who retired at the close of 2002.

“Heike is a talented administrator, as well as a delightful person, and served most capably as the Deputy Director of The Research Libraries during the last 15 years,” said Mr. Walker, in announcing the appointment. “She has vast experience in shaping research library collections, directing preservation and access initiatives and mainstreaming technologies into research library agendas.”

As Director of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Ms. Kordish will have administrative responsibility for 21 service units and 185 staff members, managing physical collections of more than 10 million items. Her appointment comes at the completion the new three-story South Court building, opened in the spring of 2002, which provides extensive training for the public in traditional and electronic research methodologies – a program that Ms. Kordish will oversee and expand. Ms. Kordish will also continue the Humanities’s contribution to The Research Libraries’s digital collections program, and focus on developing improved online services, including document delivery, electronic tutorials, and reference. Chief among Ms. Kordish priorities will be the development of strategic partnerships with institutions locally and worldwide that share the Library’s collection and access goals.

“I am particularly fortunate to be backed by a wonderful staff within the Humanities and Social Sciences Library who not only understand the demands on a world-class research library in the 21st century, but who are eager to implement the technologies and services that increase the Library’s global relevance,” said Ms. Kordish. “I look forward to building on its many strengths and to playing a role in determining its future.”

In 1967, Ms. Kordish began her career at the Yale University Library, before moving to the Columbia University Libraries in 1968. At Columbia, Ms. Kordish held a number of positions, among them Systems Planning Coordinator, Acting East Asian Librarian, and Assistant University Librarian for Budget & Planning. NYPL Research Libraries’s initiatives such as the Digital Library Program, the Institute for Staff Development, the Web Development Office, NYPL Express, and Photographic Permissions and Services were realized under her aegis as Deputy Director.

Ms. Kordish has an MS from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Library Science and an MBA from Columbia’s Graduate School of Business. Among many other affiliations, she is a member of the METRO Executive Committee and Board of Directors. She served on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the National Information Standards Organization and participated in numerous national venues and organizations addressing collection development, digital libraries, and bibliographic standards.

###

Contact: Caroline Oyama, 212-704-8600.

th: pro