Christine McCarthy is Associate Director for the Institute for the Preservation and Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Director of Center for Preservation and Conservation at the Yale University Library. She joined IPCH as Associate Director in 2023.
Her career in preservation and conservation is dedicated to academic library and university collections. In 2017, Christine was appointed Director of Preservation and Conservation Services for the Yale Library. The department’s programs include preventative conservation, conservation treatment and housing, print and audio-visual reformatting, digital photography, exhibitions planning and preparation, born-digital preservation, and software emulation. Her first appointment at Yale was as the Yale Library’s chief conservator in 2008, where she managed the design and build of the Gates (Stephen F ‘68) Conservation Laboratory which opened in 2016. Christine actively promotes preservation and conservation expertise in service of teaching and learning. She enjoys giving public lectures on preserving personal collections and family treasures.
Christine began in conservation as technician at the Brandeis University Libraries in 1992. She worked as a conservator at the University of Maryland Libraries at College Park, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Chicago. She earned her Master of Library and Information Science and an Advanced Certificate in Conservation from University of Texas at Austin. Christine also holds bachelor’s degree in illustration and graphic design from the University of the Arts.