For immediate release                           Contact:  Kathlin Smith
May 3, 2006                                               202-939-4754
 
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NANCY DAVENPORT STEPS DOWN AS PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL ON LIBRARY AND
INFORMATION RESOURCES
 
Washington, D.C. Nancy Davenport has announced that she will step down
as
president of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) at
the
end of her current term, June 30, 2006. She made the announcement at the
April 28 CLIR Board of Directors meeting, where she thanked the Board
"for the privilege and trust you bestowed in giving me the opportunity
to lead CLIR."

Charles Phelps, provost at the University of Rochester and chairman of
the
Board, thanked Ms. Davenport for her work and contributions. He cited
her leadership in convening respected voices and defining issues
relating to CLIR's priorities in preservation and scholarly
communication. Ms.
Davenport, he noted, has also had a key role in launching CLIR's "place
as
Library" initiative, which is examining libraries' current efforts to
transcend physical structures in order to better serve users and their
communities. "Place as library is a complex agenda," Dr. Phelps noted,
"and we are grateful to have had Nancy Davenport at our helm to begin
the process of addressing the issues related to this important new
initiative."

Before her appointment as president of CLIR in 2004, Ms. Davenport
served more than 25 years at the Library of Congress, ultimately as
director of
acquisitions. Throughout her career, she has been active in professional
library associations. While at CLIR, she was a member of the Council and
Executive Board of the American Library Association, and she currently
serves on the Board of the National Information Standards Organization
(NISO).

"CLIR is a small, flexible organization that is focused on change," said
Ms.
Davenport. "I am confident that CLIR will emerge from this transition
with a renewed commitment to the complex intellectual and professional
issues that face the library community."

The Board has appointed an interim administrative subcommittee and has
begun
a search for a successor to Ms. Davenport.

The Council on Library and Information Resources is an independent,
nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the management of
information
for research, teaching, and learning. CLIR works to expand access to
information, however recorded and preserved, as a public good.

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