Meet New City Library’s Interim Director May 28

The public can meet New City’s interim library director at a reception on Tuesday, May 28 at 7 p.m. The New City Library Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman as interim director of the library on May 7. He started in the position on Monday.

The library has been without a permanent director for just over a year. Marianne Silver, the library’s head of adult services, also served as interim director for about seven months in 2012 but stepped down in late December.

Freedman noted the library’s assets including its “dedicated, knowledgeable and hardworking staff” and Rockland County’s second largest collection of books, DVDs and other library materials and second highest circulation rate of materials.

“I welcome the opportunity to work with the board and the staff to meet the challenges of continuing to provide such a high level of service,” Freedman said in a released statement that alluded to disputes between board members.

“With such building blocks I know that whatever obstacles there have been, the board, the staff and I will find the right paths to resolving them and making the New City Library the very best library it can be."

Freedman has an MLS from Berkeley and a PhD from Rutgers in Library and Information Studies. Since 2000 he has been the publisher of the quarterly “The Unabashed Librarian.” He was president of the American Library Association and held management positions at the Library of Congress, Information Dynamics Corp., the Hennepin County, MN Library, The New York Public Library, and as director of the Westchester Library System, a position he held for 23 years.

He also was an associate professor at Columbia University's School of Library Service. Freedman also served as the interim director for the Purchase Free and Nyack libraries

Freedman has received the American Library Association's highest award for achievement in Library and Information Technology and the Myron Isaacs Award from the ACLU's Lower Hudson Chapter for his career-long support and defense of the First Amendment among other awards.