U of G librarian Amanda Etches, head of discovery and access, has been selected by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) for the 2013-2015 ARL Leadership Fellows program.

Begun in 2004, the program provides training and networking opportunities to assist librarians as they move into leadership roles at research libraries. U of G’s CIO and chief librarian Rebecca Graham and deputy CIO and associate chief librarian Catherine Steeves are both graduates of the prestigious program.

“Amanda is a leader in both digital and user-experience arenas and has proven to be an innovative, forward-thinking manager,” said Graham.

Etches received her library and information science degree at the University of Toronto. She began her career as a reference librarian and then worked as a user experience librarian before joining U of G in 2010. She currently manages a staff of more than 40 and is leading a team responsible for the redesign of the library’s website. In 2007, Library Journal selected her as a “Library Mover and Shaker” in the 2.0 Guru category.

The highly competitive ARL program selected 26 fellows for the upcoming program, which is being co-sponsored by the University of Guelph and University of Waterloo libraries along with North Carolina State University, Purdue University, University of Toronto and Vanderbilt University.