Duane Watson
As head of preservation at the New York Public Library, Duane Watson is widely recognized as one of the leaders in the field of library preservation in the United States. When he received his M.L.S. degree from the University at Albany in 1981, however, his area of concentration was school libraries. In 1967 he had received his M.A. in English from Albany, and when he returned to study for his library degree he already had a lengthy career as an English teacher in the Hyde Park Central School District.
In the mid-1980s Duane Watson began a second career in the field of library and information science after completing the certificate program in preservation administration at Columbia University's School of Library Service. In 1986 he served as an Andrew W. Mellon Preservation Administration Intern at the New York Public Library, and in 1988 became Associate Chief of the Library's Conservation Division. From 1990 to 1993, he was Associate Librarian for Preservation at the New-York Historical Society, helping to guide that troubled organization through a period of careful evaluation of its rich holdings in American history.
In 1993 he returned to the New York Public Library, and the following year he became the Assistant Director for Preservation and the Aaron & Clara Greenhut Rabinowitz Chief Librarian for Preservation. One of the great research libraries in the world, the New York Public Library also presents a preservation challenge of gigantic proportions, with its collections including more than seven million books, four million microforms, and thirteen million manuscripts. At the New York Public Library, Mr. Watson oversees one of the largest preservation departments in the country. He holds one of only two endowed postions in preservation in the United States.
Duane Watson's advocacy for the cause of preservation has led him to be active in various professional associations, including the American Library Association, the New York Library Association, the International Federation of Library Associations, and the Society of American Archivists. He is currently a member of the Executive Council of the New York Library Association and is past president of the NYLA Section on Management of Information Resources and Technology. He has lectured and made presentations to many different academic and professional audiences and served as a preservation consultant for a variety of schools and organizations.