Welcome to Ann Merryman, joining the UMKC Libraries as the Head of LaBudde Special Collections!
Ann joins us from the University of South Carolina Upstate, where she served as the Coordinator of Archives and Special Collections. While there, she developed and maintained specialized collections and services, and supported instruction and collection development for History and Political Science. In her time at Upstate, Ann secured funding from LGBT Fund / Spartanburg County Foundation for digitization projects, received an award for best article of the year published in the Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists, received an NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Grant, and numerous other fabulous accomplishments. She has served in the South Carolina Archival Association (currently as the Executive Board Member), and in the Society of American Archivists as a Mentoring Program mentor. Ann has also performed university service on both the Faculty Excellence Committee and Faculty Advisory Committee, the Faculty Senate, and the Digital Humanities Center Subcommittee.
In her new role, Ann is responsible for the direction, administration, operations, and long-term planning for the Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections. She facilitates access to archival and rare book collections by providing expertise on archival arrangement, description, bibliographic access, preservation, storage, and security of special collections materials held in the UMKC University Libraries.
Ann shares:
“When I’m not at work, I have several things that keep me busy. I have been curling (the ice sport) since 2016, and am very excited to join the Kansas City Curling Club at their rink in Blue Springs; they have dedicated curling ice, so I’m looking forward to bumping my skills up a notch or three! I’ve also been teaching myself Dutch using Duolingo for the past 3.5 years, but without someone to practice with it’s been slower going than I like. I’m a huge Atlanta Braves baseball fan, but now I’ll be able to root for the Royals as well since they’re in the American League and not the National League. I also like yoga, running, reading, podcasts, checking out craft breweries and local restaurants, and watching movies.”
