Mary K. Conwell Named Senior Vice President and Director of The Branch Libraries for The New York Public Library

President LeClerc said, "This is a key appointment for us at The New York Public Library. Mary K. has served The Branch Libraries with distinction in numerous capacities for over 35 years. She is superbly prepared for her new role because of her thorough knowledge of The Branch Libraries. I know she will provide inspired leadership. The Board of Trustees and I are enthusiastic about working closely with her in her new capacity."

Ms. Conwell succeeds Norman Holman as Director of The Branch Libraries. Appointed as Director of The Branch Libraries in 1996, Mr. Holman has recently been named Senior Vice President and Director of Capital Planning and Construction.

As Director of The Branch Libraries, Ms. Conwell hopes to continue such initiatives as the integration of technology into the more traditional library services, the renewal and renovation of branch facilities, and the nurturing of close cooperation with New York City schools. "The Library as a whole is also placing an emphasis on staff recruitment and development, and we are eager to make The New York Public Library an even  better place to work. Recognizing the crucial role of staff and enhancing staff satisfaction is of particular interest to me as I take on this new challenge," said Ms. Conwell.

Ms. Conwell has served as a librarian and administrator within The New York Public Library since 1966, when she began working as a librarian at the Fordham Library Center in the Bronx. Her experiences there established a precedent for her later work, with a consistent emphasis on community outreach and focus on children. Ms. Conwell worked as the Senior Children's Librarian for the South Bronx Project, collaborating with community agencies in designing outreach services for children, and then  as Supervising Children's Specialist in the Bronx Borough Office, working with the Coordinator of Children's Services on all aspects of library services to children. Her appointment to Principal Librarian  at the Hunt's Point Regional Branch in the South Bronx in 1977 gave her three years of hands-on  experience running a regional library.

In 1980, Ms. Conwell moved to the Library's Manhattan Borough Office, first as Assistant Borough Coordinator and then as Manhattan Borough Coordinator. Her responsibilities included overseeing the operations and policies of the then 33 Manhattan branches of the Library, and working closely with community boards and community support groups on budget action efforts. In 1996 Ms. Conwell was named Deputy Director of The Branch Libraries, where she assisted in the day-to-day operations of one of the largest branch library systems in the world. Ms. Conwell's contributions to and activities in the American Library Association (ALA) have included chairing the Legislative Assembly, the Association  for Library Services to Children (ALSC), and the Committee on Library Services to the Disadvantaged Child. She has also served as Treasurer of the New York Library Association.

The New York Public Library branch library system was established by a grant from Andrew Carnegie  in 1901 and is predominantly funded by the City of New York. Each year, more than 12.8 million books, films, CDs, magazines, and pictures circulate among the Library's 1.78 million cardholders. Every branch provides free online access to the Internet, and to LEO, the Branch Libraries' catalog, to CATNYP (the online catalog system of the Research Libraries), and to databases with indexes to over 2,600 periodicals and full-text publications.
 

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