Nyack Library's New Director Would Read All Day (If He Could)

NYACK, NY — The Nyack Library Board of Trustees picked as its new director a man who has been a librarian since he was a teenager.

Eric McCarthy worked as a teen librarian in New York City, an electronic resources librarian for The United States Army in Germany, and an automation coordinator for the Mid-Hudson Library System.

"We are very fortunate to have an individual with an excellent reputation and a genuine love of libraries to lead Nyack Library to the next stage in the library’s growth," said library board President E. Michael Growney.

Now that he's had a couple of months to get his bearings in Nyack (he started Feb. 21), McCarthy took some time for a library-ish Q&A with Patch.

Patch: What's the first thing you notice when you walk into the library?

McCarthy: It really depends on which door you enter, but when you come through the main entrance that leads you through the Carnegie-Farian room, you can't miss the portrait of Andrew Carnegie from above the entrance that leads you into the addition.

Patch: Did you frequent a library in your childhood? What was it like?

McCarthy: I grew up in Saratoga Springs and the Library was not bikeable from my house. I hounded my mother to bring me and when I convinced her, I spent hours making sure that I made the best book selection. It was a great place. My Library card was paper with an embedded metal strip with raised numbers. The card was run through one of those old credit card machines that took an imprint of the numbers to make carbon copies of my checkout. The Library has since moved to a much larger modern building but whenever I pass the old building, I remember my time there fondly.

Patch: Would you describe yourself as an avid or voracious reader? What word works?

McCarthy: I read every day. If I could, it would be all day.

Patch: Do you re-read books? What are your favorites to re-read?

McCarthy: I have never re-read a book that wasn't assigned for school. However, I have lately been thinking about re-reading Patricia Highsmith who I think is a wonderful writer and I've run out of her novels to read.

Patch: Do you favor fiction or non-fiction?

McCarthy: I read both but lately I've been reading mostly fiction.

Patch: What did you do and where before coming to Nyack?

McCarthy: I was a librarian for almost ten years at The Greenwich Library in Greenwich, Connecticut. At that Library I managed the staff that purchased and cataloged all the items added to the collections of three area libraries. Prior to that position, I managed the catalog for the Mid-Hudson Library System in Poughkeepsie, New York. And before that, I was a librarian working in Germany for the U.S. Army.

Patch: What's your favorite thing about the Dewey Decimal System?

McCarthy: It is like any other method of organizing items based on subjects. I like that it makes it easier to stumble upon a book you may not know you would like to read when looking for the book you intended to read.

Patch: What attracted you to the Nyack Library?

McCarthy: I have been coming to Nyack for years. My family loves to eat at the Art Café and we shop at Main Street Beat. The feel of this Library is warm and inviting and creative. Like Nyack overall. It is an honor to serve this community and work in such a wonderful environment.

Patch: Where are libraries going next? What do you want to happen at and for the Nyack Library to meet that challenge?

McCarthy: Libraries are in a unique position to help bring communities back together after a long time we've all spent apart. My hope is that the Nyack community views this Library in the same way. And we will work to reach people that might not know that we offer services and host events with the goal of building community around this Library and the people that work here.