My experience as an artist and researcher has fostered a lifelong interest in historic photographs and the personal stories they reveal. As a visual media archivist and preservation specialist my goal is to increase the public’s exposure to the valuable information stored in archives and special collections by increasing awareness, enabling equitable access, and preserving archival material for future users.

I currently serve as Lead Archivist at Boston Public Library (BPL) where I am working with a fantastic team in Special Collections to build BPL’s first Archives Department. Situated in the BPL’s Central Library in Copley Square, the Archives Department manages and describes BPL’s archival collections across all curatorial areas. Working with librarians and curators across Special Collections, BPL’s archivists establish priorities and design best practices, standards, and workflows for archival arrangement and description.

Before moving to the BPL, I worked as a visual materials archivist at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library after earning a Master of Science in Information degree from the University of Michigan School of Information. My archival work at Yale focused on processing and cataloging photographs, artist papers, and other visual materials collections. I carry my passion for collection preservation and management through all my work and continue to seek ways to make users partners in preservation.

I’m currently based in Boston, MA where I am working hard to resist buying up all the cookbooks from Boston’s fantastic indie bookstores.

Eve Neiger. Photo credit, Nick Gallo.