Brooklyn PL Director Mack-Harvin Resigns After Three Years
Interim director to be named; board meeting tonight
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 3/4/2010
- Had spent entire career at library
- First African American woman to head major library in New York
- PR disaster with outplacement article last year
“She’s interested in exploring new opportunity in public service,” BPL spokeswoman Stefanie Arck told LJ. “She’s been a great leader for the organization.” In a gracious valedictory note (below), Mack-Harvin saluted her colleagues but did not specify her reasons for making a career change.
A board meeting is scheduled for tonight, suggesting that there had been little time to orchestrate the announcement. No interim director has yet been named.
Mack-Harvin, who spent her entire professional career at BPL, was groomed by former director Ginnie Cooper, ascending to the post at age 34 over two outside candidates. While Mack-Harvin had served as BPL's interim directcor, she had never run a library.
When appointed, Mack-Harvin was described as the first African American woman to head a major library in the state.
New auditorium
During Mack-Harvin’s directorship, in October 2007, BPL opened the Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture, a spiffy new auditorium named for a donor who gave under a previous administration; it serves as the host of the library's programs.
BPL has grown its much-copied “Power Up” business plan competition and developed a new group of younger donors known as Brooklyn Vanguard during Mack-Harvin's tenure.
A press release issued late this afternoon cited Mac-Harvin's accomplishments, including:
She ushered in the completion of the $17 million Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture at Central Library, and renovation of the landmarked building’s majestic outdoor Plaza, making the pair one of the premiere cultural destinations in Brooklyn; launched a partnership with global delivery company UPS to modernize the daily transport of thousands of library materials between BPL’s 60 locations and the hands of the organization’s library customers; and commissioned an extensive customer research study (Community Needs Assessment) to fully understand how the library can better fulfill the needs of all Brooklyn communities. In 2009, she oversaw the reopening of BPL’s highest circulating neighborhood library, Kings Highway, and in 2007, launched a community fundraising campaign to build collections at BPL’s newly renovated Macon Library and new African American Heritage Center (Buy-a-Book for Macon), which served as a model for the organization’s systemwide community-driven campaign Support Our Shelves.
Mack-Harvin initiated an aggressive customer-focused campaign to re-design BPL’s website, online catalog and library card, and re-register all customers. With her programmatic goals of improving Access, Accommodations, Advocacy, and outreach to new Audiences, she deployed four new Bookmobiles to the communities of Brooklyn– including BPL’s first Spanish-language mobile library, the Bibliobús– and created targeted bilingual programs such as Para Los Niños for the borough’s growing Spanish-speaking population.
Bad PR
Brooklyn PL has generally lagged behind the Queens Library and the New York Public Library in public relations efforts and last year felt the repercussions from a lengthy article in the Washington Post that took an intimate look at the work of the Five O'Clock Club (FOCC), an outplacement firm working with BPL.
For BPL, whose anonymous laid-off staffers were identifiable to colleagues, it was an embarrassment, leading both the director of the FOCC and Mack-Harvin to apologize to the staff. The library and the newspaper offered differing accounts of whether BPL had agreed to be identified in the article.
The episode was especially painful because the city's two other libraries had been able to make budget adjustments without layoffs.
Mack-Harvin's memo
In a note to staff, Mack-Harvin wrote:
As I approach my 15th year of service at Brooklyn Public Library, I have given deep and careful consideration about the next phase of my career and decided to leave BPL at the end of June.
My 14 years at the library have been filled with tremendous growth and many wonderful achievements. Serving as your Executive Director for the past three years has been one of those high points, among the many more successes I hope to have in both my professional and personal life.I am truly grateful for your hard work, dynamic vision, and passionate commitment over the years. Without a doubt, I know our work together will continue to make a positive impact on the lives of countless Brooklynites for years to come.
Change is a constant state of life, and we know this to be especially true in the public library profession. I’ve always had a different vision for libraries, one that was fueled by my own not-so-pleasant library experiences as a youth, and I will continue to develop this vision as I chart new opportunities.I have sincere faith that BPL will remain a leader and an innovator among public libraries. Your phenomenal work and ongoing dedication will help this institution realize its highest potential.
I want you to continue to lead and create positive changes for BPL and the communities we serve.
I have immense respect for this library, and for all of you.
Thank you for being a part of my professional journey.
