Library staff
Find out more about the Library’s managers, curators and other experts.
Leadership
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Christopher Pressler, John Rylands University Librarian, Director of The University of Manchester Library and Professor of Collecting Practices
Professor Christopher Pressler is John Rylands University Librarian and Director of The University of Manchester Library. He has also held the positions of University Librarian and Director of the Irish Modern Archives Research Centre at Dublin City University, University Librarian of the University of London, University Librarian of the University of Nottingham and Librarian, Dartington College of Arts.
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John Hodgson, Associate Director: Curatorial Practices
Responsible for the strategic development and management of the Special Collections; providing team leadership in the collective pursuit of collections-based academic, student and public engagement; providing team leadership in the development of digital imaging.
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Jane Gallagher, Head of Digital Special Collections and Services
Providing strategic leadership of the Special Collections Reader Engagement, Building Care & Operations, Imaging and Visitor Services teams; leading the development of policies and programmes for advanced imaging and digitisation; positioning Curatorial Practices at the leading edge of digital development.
Contact Jane by email
Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre
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Safina Islam, Head of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust
Leading the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust, ensuring their efficient operation, promotion and long-term sustainability; leading the Centre’s engagement programmes with local communities, connecting them with our collections, and ensuring that our collections are more reflective of these communities.
Contact Safina by email
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Lianne Smith, RACE Centre Library Manager and Archivist
Managing the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre library and archive, including collection access, development and management, and management of library and archive staff.
Contact Lianne by email
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Maya Sharma, Collections Engagement Officer
Supporting engagement with the AIU RACE Centre's library and archive collections, working with students, researchers and lecturers as well as schoolteachers and community-based educators, to ensure that Black, Asian, ethnic minority, refugee and migrant histories and experiences are known and valued by all; working directly with community members and groups who wish to draw on the collections.
Contact Maya by email
Collection Care team
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Elisabeth Carr, Collection Care Manager
Ensuring that the Library’s internationally significant collections are conserved and preserved to an appropriately high standard and in accordance with best practice in major research libraries and archives; providing effective leadership and management of the Library’s Collection Care Team and its processes.
Contact Elisabeth by email
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Laura Caradonna, Collection Care Team Leader
Responsible for overseeing the day-to-day running of the three Collection Care studios.
Contact Laura by email
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Mark Furness, Senior Conservator
Responsible for administration of external loan requests, in addition to the conservation and preservation of Library collections.
Contact Mark by email
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Elaine Sheldon, Senior Conservator
Responsible for developing and implementing passive conservation measures across Library sites, in addition to the conservation and preservation of Library collections.
Contact Elaine by email
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Sarai Vardi, Senior Conservator
Responsible for developing and implementing passive conservation measures across Library sites, in addition to the conservation and preservation of Library collections.
Contact Sarai by email
Curatorial team
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Janette Martin, Research and Learning Manager
Providing strategic leadership for the development of innovative research and student engagement with Special Collections; supporting the development of the John Rylands Research Institute; leading the development of innovative public engagement with research arising out of Special Collections; Special Collections Subject lead for History (modern) and the Institute for Cultural Practices; Curatorial responsibility for History archives (social, economic, industrial and political history).
Contact Janette by email
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Julianne Simpson, Collections and Discovery Manager
Providing strategic leadership for the development, care and management of the Library's outstanding Special Collections; leading improvements in access and discovery of the Special Collections; Special Collections Subject lead for History (medieval and early modern) and Chinese Studies; Curatorial responsibility for foreign language and literature printed collections, incunabula, history of science, technology and medicine, and East Asian printed collections.
Contact Julianne by email
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Anne Anderton, Curator (Western Manuscripts and Visual Collections)
Special Collections Subject lead for Art History; Curatorial responsibility for western manuscripts and the art, photography and object collections (Visual).
Contact Anne by email
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Clare Baker, Collections Coordinator
Coordinating the work of collections assistants, student placements and others to ensure a holistic approach to the management and development of the Special Collections, and to project manage activities such as collection moves and cataloguing projects; supporting Curatorial Practices managers in devising and implementing robust metrics and evaluation relating to the directorate’s support for research, teaching and learning, and public engagement.
Contact Clare by email
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Paul Carlyle, Curator (Nonconformist Collections)
Special collections lead for French Studies; Curatorial responsibility for archives and printed collections relating to the history of Methodism and other Nonconformist denominations.
Contact Paul by email
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John Gandy, Incunabula Cataloguer
Creating fully-researched catalogue records for all of the fifteenth-century printed books at the Rylands. Promoting the Incunabula collection within The University of Manchester and elsewhere to ensure the widest publicity and use of the collection as possible.
Contact John by email
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Elizabeth Gow, Curator (Non-Western Manuscripts)
Special Collections subject lead for Japanese Studies; Curatorial responsibility for non-western manuscripts and archives.
Contact Elizabeth by email
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Charlotte Hoare, Manchester Digital Collections Content Coordinator
Managing the integration of new collections into MDC; coordinating processes for imaging, metadata creation and import of researcher-generated content; liaising between Library colleagues, project leads in research projects and the University’s cultural institutions, to ensure that the creation and ingest of content is managed efficiently and that images and metadata adhere to agreed standards.
Contact Charlotte by email
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James Peters, Curator (University, Scientific and Medical Archives)
Special Collections subject lead for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine; Curatorial responsibility for University archives, scientific, technical and medical archives; Curator of University Heritage Collections; Special Collections lead for digital preservation.
Contact James by email
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Julie Ramwell, Curator (Rare Books)
Special Collections Subject lead for Drama and Music; Curatorial responsibility for post-1500 English printed collections, including English literature, private press and street literature, and also modern French literature; Special Collections lead for stock and locations.
Contact Julie by email
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Donna Sherman, Curator (Maps)
Special Collections Subject lead for Architecture, Geography and Planning; Curatorial responsibility for Map Collections and printed atlases.
Contact Donna by email
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Jessica Smith, Curator (Creative Arts Archives) (on maternity leave)
Special Collections subject lead for English Literature, Creative Writing and American Studies; curatorial responsibility for Literary, Performing Arts and Visual Arts archives.
Contact Jessica by email
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Jane Donaldson, Curator (Creative Arts Archives) (maternity cover)
Special Collections subject lead for English Literature, Creative Writing and American Studies; curatorial responsibility for Literary, Performing Arts and Visual Arts archives.
Contact Jane by email
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Mat Bancroft, Curator (British Pop Archive)
Curator of the British Pop Archive.
Contact Mat by email
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Zsofia Buda, Curator (Global Manuscripts)
Special collections subject lead for Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies; Curatorial responsibility for global (non-European) manuscripts, Chinese and Japanese printed collections.
Contact Zsofia by email
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Inbal Livne (Harding), Curator (Diversifying Collections)
Surfacing hidden or marginalised voices within our collections, through description, (re)interpretation and promotion; promoting use of such materials; uncovering the links between our collections and the histories of slavery, colonialism and other forms of oppression.
Contact Inbal by email
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Steven Hartshorne, Curator (Science, Technology and Medicine Rare Books)
Special Collections subject lead for Science, Technology and Medicine; Curatorial responsibility for post-1500 printed science, technology and medicine collections.
Contact Steven by email
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Jeremy Penner, Curator (Africa and Near East Collections)
Special Collections subject lead for Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology, and Middle Eastern Studies; Curatorial responsibility for Armenian, Ethiopian and Syriac manuscripts, Egyptian papyri, cuneiform.
Contact Jeremy by email
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Jane Speller, Curator (Christian Brethren Archive)
Special collections subject lead for Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies; Curatorial responsibility for the Christian Brethren Archive and print collection.
Contact Jane by email
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Aya Van Renterghem, Teaching and Learning Coordinator (Special Collections)
Main contact for teaching and learning enquiries; Curatorial responsibility for the Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre Archive.
Contact Aya by email
Exhibitions and Public Engagement with Research team
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Emily Tan, Exhibitions and Public Engagement with Research Manager
Leading the design, creation, implementation and evaluation of innovative and inspiring exhibitions and public engagement with research programmes, which connect public audiences to the Library’s world-class Special Collections and the research that takes place around them.
Contact Emily by email
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Gemma Henderson, Exhibitions and Public Engagement with Research Coordinator (job-share)
Supporting the Exhibitions and Public Engagement with Research Manager in the design, creation, implementation and evaluation of innovative and inspiring exhibitions and public engagement with research programmes, which connect public audiences to the Library’s world-class Special Collections and the research that takes place around them.
Contact Gemma by email
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John McCrory, Digital Exhibitions Curator
Supporting the implementation of Omeka S as part of the Manchester Digital Collections project, developing new online exhibitions using Omeka S, both in support of the Library’s ongoing exhibition programme and in order to support research projects and public engagement with research.
Contact John by email
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Steph Seville, Exhibitions and Public Engagement with Research Coordinator (job-share)
Supporting the Exhibitions and Public Engagement with Research Manager in the design, creation, implementation and evaluation of innovative and inspiring exhibitions and public engagement with research programmes, which connect public audiences to the Library’s world-class Special Collections and the research that takes place around them.
Contact Steph by email
Imaging
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Gwen Riley Jones, Imaging Manager
Leading imaging activity and development to support research, teaching & learning and public engagement activity; developing the implementation of advanced photographic methods and liaising with researchers and curators to support and develop activities of Special Collections.
Contact Gwen by email
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Tony Richards, Senior Photographer
Supporting research, teaching and learning, and public engagement with Special Collections using a range of advanced photographic methods.
Contact Tony by email
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James W. Robinson, Senior Photographer
Supporting research, teaching and learning, and public engagement with Special Collections using a range of advanced photographic methods.
Contact James by email
Services teams
Curatorial Practices Services comprise three teams: Building Care & Operations, Reader Services and Visitor Services.
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Dominic Marsh, Curatorial Practices Services Manager
Managing and developing the Building Care & Operations, Reader Engagement and Visitor Services teams; ensuring excellent building care, operations and customer services, and highly effective cross-team working and communications.
Contact Dominic by email
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Sally Finkill, Building & Visitor Services Coordinator (job-share)
Line managing the Building Care & Operations and Visitor Services teams, ensuring excellent customer service, adherence to standards of building care and operations appropriate to a Grade 1 listed building and National Research Library, and highly effective cross-team working and communications.
Contact Sally by email
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Rebecca Winstanley, Building & Visitor Services Coordinator (job-share)
Line managing the Building Care & Operations and Visitor Services teams, ensuring excellent customer service, adherence to standards of building care and operations appropriate to a Grade 1 listed building and National Research Library, and highly effective cross-team working and communications.
Contact Rebecca by email
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Imogen Durant, Reader Services Coordinator (job-share)
Co-ordinating and delivering a customer-focused Special Collections reader service across sites and managing the team of Reader Services Assistants.
Contact Imogen by email
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Susana Sanchez-Gonzalez, Reader Services Coordinator (job-share)
Providing an efficient and effective reader service to Special Collections customers; assisting the Curatorial Practices Services Manager in developing the Reader Service in line with Library strategy.
Contact Susana by email
