No. 21: Roda Ferraro - Director, Keeneland Library

Roda has more than twenty years of experience leading, assessing, and promoting library, museum, research, and educational services, including her work with the Keeneland Library and National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Through her focus on creating responsive systems of access for researchers and racing fans around the world, Keeneland Library’s research services volume doubled during Roda’s tenure as Head Librarian – a position she previously held. Additionally, the library’s outreach programs tripled their reach under her management, while her focus on digitizing collections grew the library’s digital assets by more than 500 percent in six years.
 
Roda returned to Keeneland Library in 2022 to curate the library’s exhibit, The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers, and its educational programs and materials. The exhibit’s programs for youth and adults reached record-breaking audiences for the library in 2023, and Roda will continue to work with industry and community partners to provide educational programs and travel the exhibit across the country.
 
Roda began her new role as Director of the Library in the fall of 2023 with goals to grow and preserve the Library’s world-renowned collections and research services and to expand its outreach efforts to meet the evolving needs of its global patron base. 

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