OTTAWA — More than a year after his predecessor abruptly quit, the new head of Library and Archives Canada will arrive in June at an institution facing huge challenges over digitizing Canada’s history in an era of federal budget cuts.

The federal government announced that Guy Berthiaume, president of the Bibliotheque et Archives nationales du Quebec since 2009, will take over its federal counterpart June 23. Former Archives head Daniel Caron resigned last May after harsh criticism of his expenses, which included billing taxpayers nearly $4,500 for personal Spanish lessons.