Emilie Songolo

Emilie Songolo is the head of the Department of Distinctive Collections (DDC), MIT Libraries, since July 1, 2022.

Songolo was the Senior Librarian for African, Global and Francophone Studies and the Head of International and Area Studies for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. At Wisconsin, she has been the curator of a large collection of African commemorative fabrics. In 2014, she launched the International Women’s Day Conference to examine and address gender disparity locally and globally. Songolo is actively involved with the Center for Research Libraries’ International Collections and Content Group, the African Studies Association, the Africana Librarians Council, where she is the Coordinator of the federal Title VI librarians’ group, West African Research Association, the UW-Madison UNESCO Chair Advisory Committee, and the AIFBD (Association Internationale Francophone des Bibliothécaires et Documentalistes). 

Songolo is the recipient of multiple awards including the UW-Madison Librarian of the Year, the UW-Madison Outstanding Woman of Color, the Dr. Brenda Pfaehler Award of Excellence, and the UW-Madison Academic Staff Assembly Commendation for Outstanding Service in the Community. Songolo is a graduate of the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, Mount Holyoke College, and UCLA, where she earned her master’s of Library and Information Science.

Songolo was selected from a highly competitive pool of candidates as part of a nationwide search led by Kristine O’Brien at EDDA Partners.