Diane Kresh

Director, Department of Libraries

Diane Kresh joined Arlington as Director of Libraries in April 2006 after a 31-year career at the Library of Congress. 

During her first year in Arlington, Kresh inaugurated Arlington Reads, a community engagement program of Arlington Public Library, which promotes literacy, the joy of reading and intergenerational participation around the most important topics of our times. Since its inception, Arlington Reads has featured both national and international fiction and nonfiction authors and cultural icons, such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Valeria Luiselli, Wendell Berry, Roxane Gay, Tim O’Brien, Zadie Smith, Kiese Laymon, Nikole Hannah-Jones, George Saunders, Jacqueline Woodson and Alison Bechdel.

Throughout her career, Kresh has championed women in the workplace. With other women leaders, she created an Employee Resource Group for women employed by Arlington County Government and is part of a team that sponsors an annual mentoring program to help women find and use their voices. In 2016, Kresh was one of three women honored with the 2016 Women of Vision Award by the Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission honors women from the fields of government, business and the nonprofit world who have shown extraordinary leadership and commitment to the community.

Kresh holds both a master’s degree in Library Science and a bachelor’s degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from George Mason University, and is a certified Leadership Coach.

Kresh, her wife and two adult sons are enthusiastic users of Arlington’s libraries. You might spot her in The Shop, the library’s makerspace, hosting a shadow box workshop or working on her own creative assemblages, or playing guitar and singing at a Library storytime.   

Visit the Libraries website.

Contact

Department of Libraries
1015 N. Quincy St.
Arlington, VA 22201
TEL: 703-228-3348
TTY: 703-228-4611
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