The Catskill Public Library has received a state grant to revitalize its main branch. I recently spoke with the library's director, Christopher Leary, who's leading the project. As we sat down in his office, I noticed an espresso machine. Leary told me he gets his coffee at an Amish grocery store near his dad's house...
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Christopher Leary
If you go to this Amish grocery store, you can get sleeves of roughly expired Nespresso capsules, but they're in aluminum, so it's okay, and you can get them for pennies on the dollar. So one of my favorite things to do is go visit my dad, and we go down to the Amish country store, where I get to buy, you know, sleeves of Nespressos to bring to my office,
Sam Dingman
It strikes me as a very library sensibility...
Christopher Leary
It is!
Sam Dingman
...your approach to coffee.
Christopher Leary
Yeah, you got to save money.
Sam Dingman
So we're speaking today, Christopher, because there's some very exciting projects upcoming here at the library, much of which is happening through some funding from the state.
Christopher Leary
Yes! So I'm relatively new to the area, new to Catskill Public Library. I'm sitting here drinking one of those coffees after a really long first year. One of the trustees is like, Chris, we've got this DRI grant in Catskill, we'd like to include the library.
Sam Dingman
And tell us what DRI stands for?
Christopher Leary
The Downtown Revitalization Initiative grants. So, every year the DRI grants are chosen throughout the various regions of New York, and certain entities apply for them.
Sam Dingman
So the trustee comes to you and gives you this information...
Christopher Leary
"Hey, you know some of that vision we wanted, you know, from you when we hired you a year ago? Well, can you put together some thoughts and help us get together a library portion of it?" So I said, you know what, from some of my prior years in the private sector, I would like to go fast towards this.
On the back of a napkin, I wrote out all my thoughts after being here one year, where I'm like, you know, this library was gifted to the community by Andrew Carnegie 125 years ago. Basically, bringing back to life the Carnegie Community Hall, so a place for humans to meet downstairs. A new children's wing that leads out to the Sunken Garden. There's going to be a new Linden Patio under the historic linden tree outside, so that humans will be able to sit outside. When you move upstairs, we're also going to have a new young adult room. We're going to have a new office services alcove - we're just going to lean into some of what the real business is here at this library, because for those that have never been, the Catskill Public Library is actually quite the office services location. You would be surprised at how many notaries we do here.
Sam Dingman
I just needed a notary the other day, and I was like, "Where do I go?!"
Christopher Leary
You can come to Catskill Public Library! The modern library, right, kind of exists in this wonderful new paradigm, where it almost even means more things to people than it has in the past. So, having a community center, or a lecture hall, or a symposium space, a place where humans can gather to engage in the exchange of ideas, whether it's the Arch Stanton quartet, or a painting class.
The modernization will allow us to create three complete floors of all different operating spaces that all contribute to the mission of the library, while not disturbing each other. So, once we're all done, and we have the Carnegie Community Hall downstairs, and the brand new children's wing built over the old mechanical pit, you can have art classes going on here, while you have story time going on here. You can go up one floor to the main floor and have all the circulation, all the computer stuff, all the office services that go on here daily and are more transactional and constant in nature. And then you can come up here to the third floor, where we'll produce study rooms, meeting spaces, a mountain view reading room...
Sam Dingman
There's a word that you've used a number of times in our conversation today that I'm very struck by, and that word is "humans."
Christopher Leary
Okay,
Sam Dingman
Tell me about the choice of that word.
Christopher Leary
Yeah, interesting. You know, it's funny when you are getting interviewed and some of those ticks come out.
The public library's core mission, since it was founded, was, you know, open and free access. So no matter who you are, no matter what stage of life, this space would be, would be usable for you. And so you know, even coming from my private [sector] world, we learned back then that if you can measure it, you can improve it, and so I kind of even [tried] to measure the transactions that go on at a public library. And it is so varied, so incredibly diverse.
I would call it very human.
Sam Dingman
You've mentioned having a past in the private sector, you've mentioned being here for about a year. What were you doing before you came to the library?
Christopher Leary
So, I was a librarian in South Florida. I was a reference librarian, and then a head of reference, so I was also practicing a small business and entrepreneurial research center at the library that I was working at. I was helping a couple board members who had businesses do their business research, I was helping people build mailing lists. And I met a group of local entrepreneurs that started a third party delivery app that was prior to DoorDash and Uber Eats.
It was a huge career pivot. I decided to go for it, and I quit my job at the library, and I went to run a company called Delivery Dudes. I basically worked my way up to director of operations. Eventually at the height of Covid, that business was sold, and I stayed on and ran it for the acquiring company for about two years.
Sam Dingman
It's notable to me that you've now returned to the library world. Was it calling you back?
Christopher Leary
Yeah, well, you know, at the time that Delivery Dudes sold in South Florida, I also lost my mom and my brother within six months of each other. So it was time for some reflection, for some change.
I come from a family of military people, actually. So my dad, my grandfather were all both military men before they moved on to their careers, and I guess I always had a service mentality. My mom, who had just passed away, was real intricate in my love of libraries growing up, you know. I was the kid who got taken to the public library, and then, like, a Wendy's right afterwards for a frosty and fries, right? So, like, you know, give me a Wendy's and a public library, and I'm pretty happy, guy!
Sam Dingman
Doesn't hurt to associate libraries with frosties and fries.
Christopher Leary
Especially when you dip them into the, into the frosty.
Sam Dingman
Yes, heaven.
Christopher Leary
But yes, it's been, you know, incredibly impactful, cathartic. You know, some say that, you know, work is a great therapist,
Sam Dingman
Christopher, thank you for this conversation.
Christopher Leary
Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you.
