Pitts is excited to announce that Ann McShane, Pitts’ Digital Asset Librarian, has been elected as Treasurer of the Visual Resources Association (VRA). VRA is a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to furthering research and education in the field of image management within the educational, cultural heritage, and commercial environments. The VRA Treasurer is responsible for the financial accounts of the Association, including sales, income, and expenditures. The nomination and election of Ann recognizes their emerging leadership in this robust community of experts that span libraries, archives, museums, and commercial enterprises, as well as the respect the membership of VRA has for Ann’s ingenuity and organization, reflected in the fine work they have produced in digitization and project management throughout their career. Ann joined Pitts in a contract position as Project Digital Asset Librarian in 2019 and was promoted in 2021 to the full time position of Digital Asset Librarian. Ann came to Pitts from a previous position as Digital Collections Archivist at the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Ann notes, “I’m excited to serve as the 2022-2024 Treasurer of the Visual Resources Association (VRA). VRA is an eclectic mix of cultural heritage workers united by the fascinating work of image and media management. I am proud to be a part of such a thoughtful and hard-working professional community.”

In their tenure at Pitts, Ann has been responsible for reinventing the Pitts digitization program, leading the development of Pitts’ new digital collections platform, and spearheading efforts to secure project funding from grant organizations to grow the impact of Pitts’ rare book and archival collections through digitization, research, exhibitions, and outreach. Ann currently works on several grant-funded projects, including “Sounding Spirit,” an NEH-funded project to digitize historic sacred songbooks, and Pitts’ recent partnership with the Digital Library of Georgia to digitize Pitts’ late 19th and early 20th century records of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Pitts has long held the reputation as a leader in theological librarianship, due in large part to the scholarship and leadership performed by its professional staff. As Pitts has expanded its capacity and diversified the nature of its research projects, this tradition of leadership continues, though now it has expanded into new areas of librarianship and cultural heritage institutions. This recent acknowledgement of Ann’s leadership and skill is yet another example of Pitts librarians leading the way. Congratulations, Ann!