We’re pleased to announce Toni Vanden Bos has been appointed Head of Special Collections and Archives. Toni holds a Master of Arts in Library and Information Studies with an Archives Specialization from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.A. in History with Geography minor from Gustavus Adolphus College. Her career started at the Wisconsin Historical Society as a public records archivist, and then transitioned to academic archives working for the University of Texas-San Antonio as a processing archivist and later assistant archivist.

Toni has been a member of the University Libraries staff since February 2003 when she joined our team as an archivist just in time to experience the centennial anniversary of powered flight in the city recognized globally as the birthplace of aviation. Since then, Toni has managed media requests, outreach, preservation, and cataloging for the department; been a catalyst for starting the born-digital records preservation program, and implementation of the content management system ArchivesSpace; and secured grant funding for enhanced preservation and access to the collections. She has represented Special Collections and Archives and Wright State University at numerous events, presentations, and exhibits on campus and in the community. Most recently she has served as the interim assistant head of Special Collections and Archives from June 2024 – October 2024. Toni manages the talented and dedicated Special Collections and Archives staff, and oversees the day-to-day operation of Special Collections and Archives in preserving and providing access to significant historical collections documenting the history of Dayton and the Miami Valley, the Wright brothers and early aviation in the Miami Valley, and Wright State University’s history. Toni is also responsible for overseeing digitization projects and Wright State’s institutional repository, CORE Scholar. The archival collections are a wealth of information for research and a source of inspiration and pride for our campus and community.  We invite you to visit the Reading Room on the fourth floor of the Dunbar Library anytime the doors are open during the department’s open hours. Everyone is welcome to view exhibits on the Wright Brothers and other archival collections, as well as browse the reading room book and journal collection. Researchers and visitors can also make an appointment ahead of a visit to meet with an archivist for help with accessing collections and starting research.