Prince George’s County Libraries Mark Milestone With First Black CEO

The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Winston, Ph.D., as the new chief executive officer (CEO) for the Library. In this role, Dr. Winston will provide strategic and operational leadership to oversee a nationally recognized organization that is leading the future of libraries through innovation, democracy, and equity.

Prince George’s County is one of the largest and most diverse counties in Maryland, serving a population that is 64 percent Black and nearly 21 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data, and one of the wealthiest Black-majority counties in the U.S.

Dr. Winston, the system’s first Black CEO in its 78-year history and a Maryland native, began his tenure on January 29. He looks forward to meeting many in the Prince George’s County community at the opening of the Baden Branch Library on February 6. Early in his tenure as CEO, he will work to establish partnerships throughout Prince George’s County and the region, engaging key stakeholders including local, state, and federal government officials, agencies, community groups, and businesses.

“It is a pleasure and an honor to assume the role of CEO of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System. I am very enthusiastic about working with such an impressive staff and dedicated Board in building on the library’s success in providing library services for the community,” Dr. Winston said.

“It is humbling and motivating to think of my appointment as a milestone.”

Most recently, Dr. Winston was the executive director of the J. Lewis Crozer Library in Chester, PA, where he also worked as development officer and head of adult services. Additionally, he has worked as engagement officer and librarian at Widener University’s Wolfgram Memorial Library, assistant chancellor and director at Rutgers University, and has also taught at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Rutgers University and held librarian and administrative positions at Valdosta State University and the University of Arizona. He has also served as a management consultant, diversity consultant, and trainer, working with a range of academic, corporate, and public sector client organizations.

In addition to his library management, university faculty, and consultant experience, Dr. Winston is an author, columnist, and book reviewer, with an extensive background in grant writing. Currently, he writes a column called “Diversity Matters” for the Journal of Information Ethics. His publications, focusing on various aspects of leadership in libraries, access to information, economic inequality, and public policy, have included three books and more than 40 authored or co-authored research journal articles and book chapters. He has served on the editorial boards of a number of scholarly journals and held multiple leadership roles in the library profession at the national level, including with the ALA and ALA affiliate Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE).

He has also received several awards for his research, including the American Library Association’s (ALA) National Award for Achievement in Library Diversity Research, the Emerald Literati Network Award of Excellence for a “Highly Commended Paper” entitled “Leadership in Times of Crisis and Change,” and the Reference Service Press Award for Outstanding Article for “Reference and Information Services for Young Adults: A Research Study of Public Libraries in New Jersey.”

He has a doctorate in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a master’s degree in library science from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Hampton University.

“The Board of Library Trustees is pleased to welcome Dr. Winston to our library system and Prince George’s County. As a former resident of Maryland with an impressive background in library leadership, we are confident he will move our system forward providing resources and services to our large and diverse communities,” said Angela D. Smith, chairperson of the PGCMLS Board of Library Trustees.

The appointment by the Board of Library Trustees follows the close of the search for the chief executive officer position, which initially started in January 2023, followed by a second search in July after the Board appointed Interim CEO Rick AmRhein to oversee operations during that time. Both searches were conducted by the firm Bradbury Miller Associates.