The May departure of Susan Kent, director of New York Public Library’s (NYPL) Branch Libraries, after two years and eight months on the job (see News, LJ 6/1/07, p. 14), led to the rise of David Ferriero, director of the Research Libraries, to the new consolidated position of director of the New York Public Libraries—and further changes are on the way.

Though the farewell by Kent, former director of the Los Angeles Public Library, led to questions about how the branches would be treated, Ferriero told LJ that the consolidated position was a natural outgrowth of planning he and Kent did together to coordinate services better. “Early on, Susan and I recognized that, if we were successful, there was really one job. It happened sooner than expected.” Unlike the dual appointments of the two in 2004, Ferriero’s new job was not announced in a press release.

He and Kent created an office of staff development, he said, which “sent a message to staff that [their] development training was an important part of how we do business.” Also, NYPL’s two automation systems and two catalogs were deemed cumbersome, and a task force recommended consolidation. With $7.75 million from New York City and $1.3 million from the Picower Foundation, the project is in process. “I suspect we will start negotiating in the fall,” Ferriero said of the year-long project.

“That combined catalog gives us the opportunity to think about all of what’s behind the scenes in terms of processing, cataloging,” he said. “We’re not there yet, but it sets us up for that.” Indeed.

The library has also consolidated web functions across the organization into a web office in the information technology group. Scholar Joshua Greenberg, who has a doctorate in science and technology studies, has been hired, said Ferriero to “not only shape the digital library but think about where our users are and ways of getting NYPL in their faces.”

NYPL has engaged consultants Booz Allen Hamilton to review the organization. A report was to be issued at the end of September, Ferriero said. “I can tell you now, it’s big, and it’s very exciting; we are in the process of reinventing the library.”

Meanwhile, he’s been visiting branches across the system. “I’ve never worked directly in a public library, but when I was at Duke [University, as library director], I spent a fair amount of time working with the state library and North Carolina public library system, chairing a special collections advisory task force.”

“One of the [issues] I had going into this is [the concern of the branches] that the research libraries were gobbling them up or driving the agenda. That’s not the situation. I think the work we did around the ILS convinced the staff it’s not a takeover. The conversations about the user experience for the public catalog and cataloging needs uncovered a lot of similarity and synergy.”