Decatur poet and Emory University professor Kevin Young has been named the new director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a Harlem research unit of the New York Public Library system.
The center, which consists of three connected buildings, promotes the study of the history and culture of people of African descent. It is named after the Puerto Rican-born black author Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.
Young will start his assignment in the late fall, succeeding Khalil Gibran Muhammad, who has led Schomburg for the past five years. Young serves as the curator of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library and of the Literary Collections at Emory's Rose Library. In February, he published a collection of poetry, "Blue Laws: Selected and Uncollected Poems 1995-2015."
“Under Kevin’s leadership, the Danowski Poetry Library and the Rose Library have both enjoyed remarkable success, increasing their holdings, expanding public programming and access, mounting innovative exhibitions, organizing conferences and fellowship competitions, and enhancing their digital presence,” William Kelly, New York’s director of research libraries, said in a prepared statement. “Kevin is widely recognized as a distinguished teacher, scholar, and public voice.”
In an interview Tuesday, Young, 45, said he will be moving to New York City.
"The center is in a great position and I just want to strengthen it," said Young, who is scheduled to read his poetry at the AJC Decatur Book Festival in early September. "I also want to think about access in many different ways, including publicizing our collections there. But adding a few key collections, I think, would be wonderful."
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