NYPL Names Thornton To Be Interim Replacement for Ferriero
13-year veteran was architect of One Library strategy
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 08/14/2009
- Ferriero named U.S. Archivist
- Thornton takes interim job in December
- Has been Director of Reference and Research Services
After Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries (NYPL) David Ferriero was named as the next Archivist of the United States, Ann Thornton, NYPL’s director of reference and research services, w
ill serve as Ferriero’s interim replacement, beginning in November.
Thornton, who has served in her current post since last year and has been at NYPL for 13 years, was a key architect of the One Library Strategy that includes a new catalog for both circulating and noncirculating materials. She also oversaw the launch of Job Search Central at the Science, Industry and Business Library. (Here's a video of her talking about reference.)
Though she has background in both public library and research library functions, her focus lately seems to be on the latter. She is a 2009-10 Research Library Leadership Fellow of the Association of Research Libraries; the program offers an opportunity for development of future senior-level leaders in large research libraries.
“During the past 13 years, Ann Thornton has proven herself as the leader behind numerous initiatives that have greatly improved and expanded services to our users,” NYPL president Paul LeClerc said in a news release.
She began in 1996 at SIBL as its first public training coordinator, later becoming assistant director of electronic resources and associate director, Humanities and Social Sciences Library.
Thornton has a BA in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned her MLIS from Florida State University. She also worked as a systems librarian at the University of Houston Libraries.
