Interim Director Mack-Harvin Gets Brooklyn PL Nod; First Black Woman To Head Major NY Library

-- Library Journal, 3/23/2007

Dionne Mack-Harvin, the 34-year-old interim executive director of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) since Ginnie Cooper's departure in June 2006, was named executive director of the system on Wednesday. Her appointment makes her the first African-American woman to head a major library in the state, according to a mayoral press release. Mack-Harvin has had a rapid rise at BPL, the country's fifth-largest library system, since she began her library career in 1996 as a librarian at the Crown Heights branch. She served as branch manager, then a regional librarian responsible for 24 neighborhood libraries before being promoted in 2003 to direct the Central Library. Two years later, Mack-Harvin was promoted to chief of staff, overseeing six directors and projects such as the annual capital budget request.

Mack-Harvin was among three finalists, each "a highly competitive candidate from a different library system," according to library spokeswoman Stefanie Arck. (The library's search firm said their names were confidential.) The search committee was comprised of members of the library Board of Trustees. In this case, the board chose a different strategy, hiring an insider already familiar with the library, than in its previous decision, choosing Cooper from the Multnomah County Library in Portland, OR. Board President Thomas Amon said, "With her over 10 years of experience at Brooklyn Public Library, the Board is confident that she will find innovative ways to meet the needs of Brooklynites everywhere." Details of Mack-Harvin's contract have not been finalized, according to Arck.

Mack-Harvin is undoubtedly one of the youngest directors of major libraries in the country; John Szabo, former director of the Clearwater PL, FL, was hired at 37 two years ago to head the Atlanta-Fulton PL. Mack-Harvin graduated magna cum laude from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport in 1994 with a Bachelors of Science in History and African and Afro-American Studies. In the next year, she earned a Master of Arts in Africana Studies from (SUNY) at Albany. In 1996, she earned her Masters of Library Science in Information Science from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at SUNY Albany. The library's priorities, according to a statement, include making the library a community center, increased hours, support for lifelong learning, and a new emphasis on fundraising and volunteering.