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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Doug Dingwall

National Library director-general reappointed for a second term

Dr Marie-Louise Ayres. Picture: Karleen Minney

Dr Marie-Louise Ayres will remain the National Library's director-general for another five years after being reappointed for a second term in the role.

Arts Minister Paul Fletcher on Thursday announced Dr Ayres, whose next term begins on March 2, would keep playing a major role in growing the library's digital services.

"I congratulate Dr Ayres on her reappointment as director-general of the National Library of Australia, as she prepares to mark 20 years of service to the institution, in which time she has worked as a project manager, assistant curator, senior curator, assistant director-general and director-general," Mr Fletcher said.

Dr Ayres has served as director-general since March 2017 and joined the National Library in 2002.

She has led the library's efforts to provide digital access to cultural resources throughout Australia, including through the Digital Classroom, which increased its reach by 81 per cent in 2020-21 to 878,573 visits.

Dr Ayres has also overseen the redesign of the free online portal Trove, which in 2020-21 received 18 million visits and doubled its online resources to 13.5 billion digital items.

In 2020, Dr Ayres was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, in recognition of her significant contribution to the humanities, the arts and to Australian cultural life.

She has worked in research libraries for nearly 30 years, after completing a PhD in Australian Literature at the Australian National University.

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