Goolsby named new Kuskokwim campus director

February 18, 2022

The College of Rural and Community Development is excited to announce the hiring of Carolyn Goolsby as the new director of the Kuskokwim Campus.

As director, Goolsby will lead the KuC team guided by their vision: “Elitnauraput cikiumalartut puqigmek wangkuta-llu ellaitenek elitesqelluta — Our students are given wisdom to learn so that we can also learn through them.” (Central Yup'ik/Cup'ik Eskimo). Goolsby’s first day will be Feb. 14.

Goolsby was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, on the traditional lands of the Yamasee. After completing her undergraduate degree in voice performance, she earned a master of library science degree from the University of Maryland in 1993. Goolsby has worked at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the National Library of Medicine and several major university libraries. She was a member of the graduate faculty at the Florida State University, teaching masters-level courses in cataloging and information organization in the College of Information.

Goolsby joins the Kuskokwim Campus from the Haines Borough Public Library (Ax’Shtudultoowu Daaka Hidi), where she served as director and worked closely with the Chilkoot Indian Association as director of Haines’ tribal library.

Kuskokwim Campus is the largest rural campus in the University of Alaska Fairbanks system and is a branch campus of the College of Rural and Community Development. The campus is located in Bethel, a regional hub community situated in Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta with a service area of 57,000 square miles, making it comparable to the size of Illinois. The Kuskokwim Campus offers academic, vocational and community interest courses, as well as courses leading to associate, baccalaureate and master's degrees.