Marsh comes from The Claremont Colleges Library in Claremont, California, where she has served as director of Special Collections and Libraries since 2014. Her tenure in the Claremont consortium included library assistant director and head of special collections, reference librarian for the Denison Library, and special collections librarian for the Honnold/Mudd Library.
Marsh is a proud CMU alum, earning a B.A. in English and Art History in 1984, followed by a Master’s in Literature in 1986. She was a student assistant for the Park Library during her undergraduate and graduate studies. She has a Master’s in Library Science with an emphasis on special collections librarianship from the University of Arizona.
“Carrie has excellent management experience, has a track record of developing successful partnerships with college faculty, and has demonstrated a thorough understanding of DEI needs and opportunities in archives and special collections. I look forward to working with her as she advances the mission and vision of the Clarke Historical Library,” said Irwin, who led a search committee that included current faculty, library staff, and members of the Clarke Historical Library Board of Governors.
Among Marsh’s professional achievements: a collaboration that began in 2012 with Laura Stalker, former deputy director of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, to teach a course for the California Rare Book School about history, theory and practice of special collections librarianship, and, a key role in writing and collaboratively implementing a $333,574 three-year Digitizing Special Hidden Collections from a Council on Library and Information Resources grant with Pomona College and five Southern California libraries (public and academic) and the National Archives and Records Administration in Riverside, California. The “Digitizing Southern California Water Resources” project digitized materials from federal, state, and local governments, water companies, local agencies, engineers, and individuals involved in water development in the Southern California region from the 19th through the 20th centuries.
The Clarke Historical Library, founded in 1954 by a gift from Dr. Norman E. Clarke, Sr., collects, preserves, and promotes nationally recognized collections that include the history of Michigan and the Old Northwest Territory, the history of Central Michigan University, and selected topics including children's literature, campaign biographies of U.S. presidential candidates, the history of angling, and historic Michigan newspapers. The Clarke serves the needs of the CMU community, fosters scholarly activity through its collections and exhibits, and strengthens community partnerships through an active outreach program. Learn more online at Clarke Historical Library.