Brooklyn PL Names Former Foundation Head as One-Year Interim Director
Jun 25, 2010Veteran library fundraiser and nonprofit executive Linda E. Johnson, who does not have a library degree, has been named Interim Executive Director of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), effective July 1, and will serve a one-year fixed term.
Johnson succeeds Dionne Mack-Harvin, who announced in March that she would resign at the end of her three-year term.
Stabilizing the library in a declining funding environment will be among the challenges facing Johnson; BPL, like the Queens Library and New York Public Library, faced massive budget cuts—portending branch closures—that have been at least partly resisted. (The City Council yesterday announced that five-day library service would be preserved, but it's unclear how much of a hit libraries-and their staffers-will take.)
Director background
Johnson, who has advanced degrees in law and business administration, served as Acting President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia from January through November of 2009.
Previously, she served for three years as the Chief Executive Officer of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, where she raised more than $40 million in private donations over 18 months for the central library expansion and renovation project and also launched the H.O.M.E. Page Café, a collaboration with Starbucks that provided work for homeless people
"Linda Johnson has a deep understanding and love of libraries and I am very pleased that she has agreed to bring her experience and passion to lead BPL," said Board Chair Anthony Crowell, who serves as counselor to Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in a press release. "Her proven track record of strategic management and highly successful fundraising are the skills that are especially crucial for BPL in these challenging economic times."
"I am thrilled to be joining this exceptional Library system which serves the Brooklyn community with critical free services," Johnson said.
