Barbara Kirby

Barbara Kirby has worked in higher education administration for more than 30 years. In 2004, she was named director of the pilot educational outreach program for the Library of Congress, which was later called Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS).

Since that time, more than 3,500 teachers have attended 340 professional development programs focused on access and effective use of primary sources in the classroom. 

Under her direction, the TPS Regional Program was piloted in 2007 and was eventually adopted by the Library of Congress as a permanent part of the Library of Congress Educational Outreach Division. The TPS Eastern Region program has since grown to a network of 204 regional projects focused on preparing teachers and learners to access and use primary sources to impact student learning.

Kirby also serves as a member of the Library of Congress TPS Advisory Committee and administrator of the Waynesburg University Institutional Review Committee.

With a background in adult education and program administration, she has worked in support of local education efforts and managed a wide variety of professional development programs for teachers and others. She was instrumental in securing funding for and initiating Waynesburg University’s first internet connection and subsequent training. Her work was active in providing early technology training for area school districts, including Technology Literacy Camps (TLC) for both teachers and young students and the Waynesburg University Mobile Technology Vehicle (MTV) that provided internet access to rural communities in the early 1990s.

Prior to her work with Waynesburg University, Kirby was the director of the Workforce Development Program, an initiative of the public schools in Greene County, in addition to serving as a literacy and adult basic education instructor and counselor.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in planning from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Business Administration degree from Waynesburg University.

B.A., University of Pittsburgh; M.B.A., Waynesburg College