LEWISTON — Dr. Joyce Gibson, dean of the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College, has announced that James Myall of Bath has been hired as coordinator for USM’s Franco-American Collection.

Myall grew up in Britain, just 70 miles from France, and as a result has spent at lot of time on both sides of “La Manche.” He studied French for eight years, and has long been interested in French culture. After graduating from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland with a degree in archaeology, he moved to Bath, and he has spent the previous year and a half working at the University of Maine at Augusta as their digital images coordinator. He has also volunteered at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath and the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.

Since moving to Maine, Myall has been impressed with the pride that Mainers take in their heritage. Myall said that USM’s Franco-American Collection is a great place to work because the collection has so much potential, which is based upon the strength of the local community.

As the new coordinator for the collection, he is looking forward to working closely with many groups in Lewiston-Auburn and the wider region to keep the collection a valuable resource for the Lewiston and Auburn, and to promote Franco-American heritage in Maine.

The University of Southern Maine’s Franco-American collection is one of the largest repositories of Franco-American archival material in the state. The collection’s holdings cover local history, government, religion, language, education, industry, sports and the arts.

The collection focuses on Lewiston-Auburn and other areas of Maine, with additional regional materials providing a link to the wider contexts of French North America. The collection is located on USM’s Lewiston-Auburn campus, 51 Westminster St. More information is available online at www.usm.maine.edu/lac/franco or by calling 753-6545.