Katrina Rouan appointed director of the Walter P. Reuther Library

Katrina Rouan has been appointed director of the Walter P. Reuther Library and Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University.

"I am honored to serve as the next director of the Walter P. Reuther Library," said Rouan. "I look forward to collaborating with archivists and staff on building campus and community partnerships and further developing our digital infrastructure as we prepare for the future."

Rouan has served as interim director of the Reuther Library since 2024 and brings extensive experience from within the Wayne State University Libraries. From 2010 to 2024, she served as a librarian, holding positions as the coordinator for reference services and graduate student assistants while also serving as the subject specialist librarian for the departments of psychology, communication sciences and disorders, and nutrition and food science.

"Katrina's track record as a successful leader, administrator and educator positions her perfectly to guide the Reuther into its next chapter," said Paul Bracke, dean of the University Libraries and School of Information Sciences.

Rouan is an active leader in the library profession, most recently serving as secretary for the Michigan Academic Library Association, where she has held several leadership roles since 2017. Earlier in her career, Rouan was deeply involved with the Southeastern Michigan League of Libraries Executive Board, serving as chair from 2016 to 2017, chair-elect from 2015 to 2016 and member-at-large from 2011 to 2015. She also served on the Association of College and Research Libraries/Education and Behavioral Sciences Section Membership and Orientation Committee from 2013 to 2017. Her dedication to the profession was recognized in 2017 when she received the School of Information Sciences Shining Star Award.

Rouan holds a master of library and information science from Wayne State University and a bachelor of science in biological sciences from Grand Valley State University.

The Reuther Library is the largest labor archives in North America and is home to the collections of numerous unions and labor-related organizations. Its collection strengths extend to the political and community life of urban and metropolitan Detroit, the civil rights movement in Michigan and nationally, and women's struggles in the workplace. The Reuther Library is also the home of the Wayne State University Archives, established by the Board of Governors in 1958 in recognition of the importance and permanent value of the University's official files, records, and documents.