The New York Public Library Appoints New Chief Librarian of the Mid-Manhattan Library and Principal Librarian in Charge of the Donnell Library Center World Languages Collection

The New York Public Library has appointed two of its staff members to significant leadership positions. Lucia Chen has been promoted to Chief Librarian of the Mid-Manhattan Library, and Hung-Yun Chang has been promoted to Principal Librarian in Charge of the Donnell Library Center World Languages Collection.

Lucia Chen, former Associate Chief Librarian of The New York Public Library's Mid-Manhattan Library, is the new Chief Librarian. Mid-Manhattan Library is the system's largest circulating branch, with over 2 million items circulating each year, as many as 6,000 visitors per day, over 40 computer classes, and 15 to 20 cultural programs each month. Ms. Chen will oversee Mid-Manhattan's public services, operations, planning, and collection management. She replaces former Chief Librarian Robert Foy, who recently retired. The Mid-Manhattan Library is located at 455 Fifth Avenue at 40th Street.

"Lucia Chen is a bright, enthusiastic professional who has already contributed much to Mid-Manhattan Library and its users," said Susan Kent, Director and Chief Executive of the Branch Libraries, The New York Public Library. "She has the vision needed to move the collections and services forward in the next decade, and I am looking forward to working with her in the capacity of Chief Librarian."

Hung-Yun Chang has been appointed Principal Librarian in charge of the Donnell World Languages Collection. Mr. Chang will oversee the Collection, a unique, centrally located circulating collection of about 175,000 books representing 70 languages other than English, as well as DVDs and videos in non-English languages. The Donnell World Languages Collection is housed at The Donnell Library Center at 20 West 53rd Street, but the Collection's materials circulate on a rotating basis through many of the 86 branches of the Library. Mr. Chang was previously a Supervising Librarian and Assistant Head of the Collection.

"Hung-Yun Chang has developed language collections successfully for two decades to meet the needs of some of the newest New Yorkers," said Ms. Kent. "He also brought a wealth of live Chinese performance and film programs to the Donnell auditorium promoting cultural understanding with a diverse audience. He will use his expertise to broaden and strengthen services to all immigrant and speakers of multiple languages. Promoting books, videos, and music in languages other than English is a priority for The New York Public Library."

About Lucia Chen
Lucia Chen gave up her teaching post at the prestigious Zheijiang University to move to America with her husband 17 years ago. After completing her Master of Library Science (MLS) at St. John's University, Ms. Chen started at The New York Public Library in 1992 at the Chatham Square Branch as a Children's literature specialist. She has also headed the Art Collections at Mid-Manhattan Library and worked at the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Library. Ms. Chen currently serves as the President of the Reference and Adult Services Section (RASS) of the New York Library Association (NYLA) and is active in the American Library Association (ALA).  

Library Journal selected Ms. Chen as a Shaker and Mover in 2004 for her work as Director of Picture Collection Online, the first digital project in The New York Public Library's Branch Libraries. In addition to her MLS, Ms. Chen also has a Ph.D. in Art Education from New York University.

About Hung-Yun Chang
Hung-Yun Chang started at The New York Public Library in 1984 as a new librarian, beginning his career at the Donnell Library Center Adult Collections and later working as a Senior Librarian at the Bronx Reference Center. Since 1988, Mr. Chang has served as Asian Language Specialist at Donnell World Languages; in 1994, he became the Supervising Librarian responsible for overseeing circuit book collection services in non-English languages to the neighborhood branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island in addition to the Asian Language collections and public programs at Donnell Library Center.

Mr. Chang served as Booklist's book review coordinator for non-English books for many years. He is active in the Chinese American Librarian Association (CALA) and has been praised for his lectures on Chinese collection development at the New York Library Association and other librarian conferences. Prior to his library career, Mr. Chang was a Chinese news broadcaster in Taipei and a university instructor of the Chinese language in Taipei and the United States.

About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with the Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free and open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. It comprises four research centers - The Humanities and Social Sciences Library; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the Science, Industry and Business Library - and 86 Branch Libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items, including materials for the visually impaired. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English as a second language. The New York Public Library serves over 15 million patrons who come through its doors annually and another 15 million users internationally, who access collections and services through the NYPL website, www.nypl.org.

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Contact:    Gayle Snible             212.704.8600   |  gsnible@nypl.org

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