BU Libraries welcome Giordana Mecagni as Director of Special Collections and Archives
Giordana Mecagni joined the BU Libraries on March 30 as the Director of Special Collections and Archives, overseeing the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, University Archives, and the special collections held across the library.
The special collections and archives of the BU Libraries extend from the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, which serves as the University’s central repository for personal papers of cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, to rare books, the University’s archives, and the distinctive collections of the Music, Theology, and African Studies libraries. Together, these collections preserve cultural heritage, inspire original scholarship, and foster a deeper understanding of the world.
“Boston University is fortunate to welcome Giordana Mecagni to this critical leadership role within the University Libraries,” said Jennifer King, Associate University Librarian for Special Collections & Academic Engagement. “Giordana is an accomplished, visionary, and pragmatic leader whose inclusive, determined approach will strengthen and complement the vital work of the Special Collections team.”
As director, Mecagni will ensure students and researchers can easily discover and use these archival materials and will collaboratively engage the larger community in thoughtful exploration of history and current events through BU’s special collections. Under Mecagni’s leadership, the Gotlieb Center will expand research opportunities for scholars across the globe, deepen campus engagement with the archives, and invest in its growing instructional programs that introduce students primary source learning and spark convergent inquiry across disciplines.
“I am thrilled to join the BU Libraries and the dedicated teams who steward BU’s cultural heritage collections and make them available for research,” said Mecagni. “The BU special collections are cherished by scholars around the world, and are available right here in the Mugar Library. They contain endless opportunities for scholarship, and my goal is to integrate un-googleable primary source research into all aspects of teaching and learning on campus.”
Mecagni comes to BU from Northeastern University where she had served as Head of Archives & Special Collections since 2013 honing deep expertise in project and collection management, staff development and mentoring, fundraising, educational program development, and community engagement. She previously served as the Acquisitions Archivist and Archivist for Women in Medicine at the Center for the History of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Reference Assistant at the Schlesinger Library at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. She holds an MS, Archives Concentration from Simmons School for Library and Information Science and BA, Sociology and Women’s Studies for the University of New Hampshire.