Biographical Sketch of Frannie Ashburn, NCLA Leadership Institute Mentor

Frannie Ashburn is a library development consultant for the State Library of North Carolina, Department of Cultural Resources. Her primary responsibility is as Director of the North Carolina Center for the Book, a project that develops and coordinates a wide range of book-based programs hosted by local public libraries and their community partners. Frannie works closely with literary and cultural organizations statewide to develop programs for public libraries and focuses her work on the public library’s role as a community cultural center.

Before coming to North Carolina in 1995 she coordinated a similar statewide program in South Carolina for seven years. She regularly leads sessions at national library conferences, seminars, and workshops on implementing humanities programs in libraries. A native Virginian, Frannie earned her undergraduate degree in English from Wake Forest University and her library science degree from the University of South Carolina.