The Center for Research Libraries is excited to announce that Jacob Nadal, currently the Director for Preservation at the Library of Congress, will succeed Greg Eow as CRL President, effective November 18, 2024. Nadal is a nationally recognized expert on preservation who has served in leadership roles at a variety of independent, academic, and government organizations. He brings to CRL expertise in collections management on the largest scales, and deep knowledge of shared print initiatives and digital preservation, including extensive experience with digitization programs with global reach such as Google Books.
“CRL has a legacy of expanding access to information through cooperation among its member libraries,” says Nadal of his new professional home. “The shared resources models CRL has put into practice are central to the way libraries work together today. The collective strengths of CRL’s staff and member libraries allow us to tackle great challenges, and there are great challenges to solve. Making information available and putting knowledge to work makes a profound difference in the world and in people’s lives. It’s an honor to lead the Center into its next era.”
Nadal’s commitment to information access reveals itself equally in his fieldwork and his policymaking: His work on recovery after conflict or natural disaster, for example in Liberia, in partnership with the Liberian Collections Project and the Carter Center, has helped to restore access to information and cultural materials with real human and social impact. Similarly, his activities with the HBCU Library Alliance, the Held in Trust program, and international exchange programs promoted equity of access and professional opportunity. The importance of coalition-building for Nadal and his wide-ranging experience in crafting policy are both reflected in his membership on the U.S. Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee and in his role as the Library of Congress representative to the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission.
Search committee chair Roger Schonfeld notes that “our search committee, comprised of board members and other directors from across the CRL member community, was delighted with the robust interest in this role. Jake is a strong leader who is well prepared to oversee mission-aligned innovation for our organization and member community.”
“Jake Nadal is an excellent choice as CRL’s next president,” adds Denise Stephens, Chair of the CRL Board of Directors. “He brings impressive depth and scale of collections experience, a record of collaborative leadership impacts, and a clear view of the evolving shared information landscape. He values CRL's legacy and embraces its essential role in the years to come. He is a strong choice for leading CRL’s advancement into the future.”
At the Library of Congress, where he has been Director for Preservation since 2017, Nadal has overseen the work of over 200 staff members across four divisions: Collections Management, Conservation, Preservation Services, and Research and Testing. He is a former Executive Director of the Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP) and has served in leadership roles and developed preservation programs for the Brooklyn Historical Society, UCLA, New York Public Library, and Indiana University, where he received his master's degree in library science.
The 2024 Presidential Search Committee was appointed in March 2024 by the CRL Board of Directors. Chaired by Roger Schonfeld (Ithaka), it included Larry Alford (University of Toronto), Janet Bishop (The Claremont Colleges), Angi Faiks (Macalester College), Michael Levine-Clark (University of Denver), Joe Lucia (Temple University), Julie Mosbo Ballestro (Texas A&M University), Matthew Sheehy (Brandeis University), Denise Stephens (University of Oklahoma), and Xuemao Wang (Northwestern University). Executive search firm Isaacson Miller, led by partner Anita Tien, facilitated the search.
