The 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) has appointed Denise Davis as a Senior Fellow in 91´«Ã½’s Department on Institutional Advancement, Programs, and Partnerships and in its Public Policy and Advocacy Office.

Davis will provide advice on the re-establishment of a research and data function for 91´«Ã½. Enabled by generous grant funding from the Mellon Foundation, 91´«Ã½ is developing a plan and strategy for research and data for the Association as a whole, with subsequent recruitment of a staffer to lead this function.

“A number of 91´«Ã½ units engage in research and data activities that benefit the library field,” said 91´«Ã½ President Cindy Hohl. “However, both the library community and 91´«Ã½ need a holistic resource and leader for research and data efforts—for all library types, all 91´«Ã½ units, and in partnership beyond the library community. Thus, an 91´«Ã½-level entity for research and data is a strategic need.”

Denise Davis has extensive experience in library research and data, especially from her tenure as the director of 91´«Ã½’s former Office for Research and Statistics, and as director of Statistics and Surveys for the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (now part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services). Davis has numerous articles published related to research and data in Public Libraries, Public Library Quarterly, and other outlets.

“I’m overjoyed to have Denise Davis advising us on the re-establishment of an 91´«Ã½-wide research and data function,” said Alan Inouye, 91´«Ã½’s interim chief advancement officer and interim associate executive director for Public Policy and Advocacy. “She will work with 91´«Ã½ Senior Fellow Marjory Blumental to collaborate with the 91´«Ã½ staff in formulating the strategy to launch an essential function that the primary association in a sector should have.”

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About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at .