Nelson will report to Executive Vice President and Publisher William McGorry, a longtime Reed executive who joined the publishing group in November. McGorry thanked Rawlinson, who began her career in acquisitions at Baltimore County (Md.) Public Library before joining the staff of Library Journal in 1988 as book review editor, for “her editorial leadership and years of dedicated services.”
The RBI announcement said that Rawlinson was leaving “to pursue other interests,” but the January 5 New York Times characterized her departure as “a surprise to many in the publishing world.” Rawlinson told American Libraries, “They wanted a new perspective and wanted me to work with the person bringing it in, but I chose not to do that.” She noted that the changing economics of the publishing business were making it difficult for PW to maintain its edge, and “the editor of a magazine should change every 10 years or so anyway.”
The Times reported that McGorry said PW had remained profitable during Rawlinson’s tenure, but the changes are part of Reed’s effort to raise the profile of its franchise brands, which also include such trade publications as Variety.
The abrupt departure of Susan DiMattia as editor of Library Hotline also caught many off guard when it was announced in the September 13 issue of the newsletter. An October 11 “clarification” noted that she had left after 16 years because her position was eliminated “due to a restructuring of operations” within the publishing group of RBI and that she was “robustly” pursuing other opportunities.
Posted January 7, 2005.