On Thursday, March 22, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Borough Hall to announce the appointment of Dionne Mack-Harvin as the new Executive Director of Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). Council Members Vincent Gentile and Domenic Recchia, BPL Board President Thomas Amon, and BPL Board Vice President and Counselor to the Mayor Anthony Crowell were also present.

The BPL Board of Trustees unanimously approved Ms. Mack-Harvin’s appointment last night. Mack-Harvin, who currently serves as Interim Executive Director, is the first African-American woman to head a major library system in New York State.

“As a longstanding, effective member of the Brooklyn Public Library staff, and now as its historic first woman of color executive director, Dionne earned her position the old-fashioned way: she earned it,” said Borough President Markowitz. “Brooklynites are confident that Dionne possesses the leadership and drive to help write the next chapters in our libraries’ proud history. And as home to such an illustrious literary tradition and so many renowned contemporary authors, Brooklyn certainly knows the language of success!”

BPL—the fifth largest library system in the country, with 60 locations throughout the borough—offers free services for all ages, including author talks, literacy programs, and public computers, as well as books, DVDs and CDs in more than 30 languages. The system’s eBooks and eVideo collection, catalog information, and free homework help are available at www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org.