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The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) announced today that Joy Banks will be CoSA's new executive director as of June 1, 2022, succeeding Barbara Teague after her successful four-and-a-half-year executive director tenure. Ms. Banks' selection was the culmination of a five-month nationwide search conducted by CoSA's Executive Director Search Committee.

Ms. Banks comes to CoSA from her position as a Program Officer with the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), an Alexandria, VA-based sponsor-supported organization, where she directed and envisioned nationwide grant-making programs that put her in regular communication with private foundations and government agencies. As part of this team, Ms. Banks helped lead outreach initiatives to new, underrepresented groups, including the redesign of CLIR's flagship Digitizing Hidden Collections program to focus specifically on Amplifying Unheard Voices, and hosting the first season of CLIR's podcast Material Memory.

She previously served as a program manager for CLIR, designing the Strategies for Advancing Hidden Collections webinar curriculum; the librarian at Bok Tower Gardens, a 250-acre historic garden and bird sanctuary in Lake Wales, FL; the Catalog Librarian at Florida Southern College; and an independent consultant, focusing on providing critical support for under-resourced libraries and archives. She received a Master of Science (MS) in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Literature from Florida Southern College.

"I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as CoSA's next executive director, building on the important work of my predecessors and drawing from my own mission-aligned experience," said Ms. Banks. "We are at a critical historical moment, not just for archives but also for associations, with CoSA positioned as a trusted voice in research, education, and advocacy for the importance of government archives. I am eager to join with CoSA's staff, board, members, and partners as we work collaboratively to build a more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable future."

CoSA President, South Carolina State Archivist Eric Emerson, added, "I am pleased to welcome Joy Banks as our new executive director. Her experience in working with colleagues around the country on grant projects and her solid research and project management skills will be a great benefit to CoSA."

Banks succeeds outgoing executive director Barbara Teague, who will remain on the CoSA staff for several months of transition. Mr. Emerson said, "CoSA has benefitted so much from Barbara Teague's experience and broad knowledge of state and territorial archives and her long tenure in the archival profession. We appreciate her service to CoSA, as former CoSA President and Board of Directors and committee member, as a CoSA consultant, and most recently as our Executive Director. We look forward to a smooth transition in our executive leadership."