Richard Reyes-Gavilan Named New Executive Director D.C. Library System

Updated January 9, 2013 Official Announcement Made: 
Richard Reyes-Gavilan Named New Executive Director of the DC Public Library.
From Formal Announcement via Mayor Vincent Gray’s Office

Few cities in America have invested as heavily in their public libraries as the District,” said Reyes-Gavilan. “I am honored to work with elected officials who have shown such a deep commitment to library service and am thrilled to be joining a team of professionals who have done so much to build an exceptional library system.”
The Brooklyn Public Library is the fifth largest in the country serving well over 10 million visitors annually. In Brooklyn, Reyes-Gavilan spearheaded the Open Libraries Initiative, an organizational capacity assessment that resulted in 440 additional hours of public service per week across the system. In 2012, the Urban Libraries Council recognized the initiative as the top operational innovation of the year. In 2013, Reyes-Gavilan provided the public service vision for Brooklyn Public Library’s strategic plan.
Reyes-Gavilan first began his career at the New York Public Library, where he developed Spanish-language collections for neighborhood libraries in the Bronx. He earned a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Texas at Austin and an undergraduate degree in literature from the State University of New York at Albany.
Reyes-Gavilan will officially take the position in March. Until then, DCPL Communications Director Joi Mecks will continue to serve as Interim Chief Librarian.

Pictures from a News Conference via @DCPL
Fast Facts Shared at Event (via Twitter)

• “Number of books checked out have tripled; number of computers have increased tenfold since 2006.”
• DC Public Library has had a 25% increase in our budget.

Original Post (Jan. 9, 2013)
From The Washington Post:

The next leader of the District’s public library system will come from Brooklyn — just like his predecessor.
Richard Reyes-Gavilan will be named chief librarian of the D.C. Public Library at a Thursday news conference at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, according to two officials with knowledge of the pick who were not authorized to speak publicly before the announcement.

He will replace Ginnie Cooper who retired last year.
Reyes-Gavilan is currently the Chief Librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. He took this position in October, 2011.

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