El Paso Public Libraries chief, Dionne Mack-Harvin, works to offer easier access to books. (El Paso Times, 4/25/2011)
Excerpt: Dionne Mack-Harvin does not have a wonderful library experience story to share.
"It was not a love of books and a love of reading that drew me into the profession," she said.
Mack-Harvin grew up first in South Carolina and later in Harlem, exposed mostly to the Bible and a 1950s set of World Book encyclopedias.
"I never walked into a library until I moved to New York at age 10. When I did, the person at the desk was very rude," she said. "I believed a library was not for us even as I was growing up in the '70s."
Mack-Harvin is completing her fourth month as director of the El Paso Public Library system, the first African-American to serve in that position. She succeeded Carol Brey-Casiano, now with the U.S. State Department.
Mack-Harvin, 38, is responsible for 13 libraries and a bookmobile, 170 employees, and an annual operating budget of about $8.4 million.
A college librarian encouraged Mack-Harvin, who already had credentials in history and African-American studies, to consider library science as a possible option for making a difference in her community.
African-Americans represent less than 1 percent of all public librarians nationwide, according to various national surveys.
"For me, it's been all about how public libraries play a crucial role in society," Mack-Harvin said recently.
Throughout her career, Mack-Harvin has tried to create libraries as places that welcome and accommodate anybody, regardless of their language or background.
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