Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Peterson has been appointed Director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (AFC), effective January 16, 2012. Dr. Peterson succeeds Dr. Peggy A. Bulger, who retires from federal service on December 31, 2011. Since 2009 Peterson has been a consultant, specializing in folklife-related cultural planning, program planning and assessments, development, meeting facilitation, writing, and research. Her primary clients have included the American Folklore Society, the Wyoming Arts Council, the Association of Western States Folklorists, the Houston Arts Alliance and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. In her consulting work for AFC, Peterson helped develop a national documentation project focusing on the transformation of work in 21st century American life. She brought together scholars and other stakeholders from folklore, oral history, anthropology, public policy, private philanthropy, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) leading to a partnership agreement between the AFC and the IMLS. She co-directed a project team that coordinated and presented a 2010 symposium, Work and Transformation: Documenting American Workers at the Library of Congress.
(From The American Folklife Center)