Faherty chosen to helm the South Orange Public Library

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange Public Library found its next leader when the board of trustees named Jill Faherty as its new director last week; Faherty will take the helm in July from interim Director Lindita Cani. A former librarian at the Montclair Public Library and the New York Public Library, Faherty is coming to South Orange from Baker & Taylor, a distributor of books, digital content and technology solutions to libraries. The job had her traveling all over the country, helping libraries in many different types of communities grow their collections.

“I’ve enjoyed living here, and I wanted to go back to being a librarian and working in the community,” Faherty, who lives in Essex County, said in a phone interview with the News-Record on June 26. “South Orange is a wonderful community.”

At Baker & Taylor, Faherty often focused on children and teen content but also helped libraries develop diversity, equity and inclusion programs and build collections that best fit the library’s community. She has worked in libraries of all sizes, in rural, suburban and urban areas.

“I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t,” Faherty said. “I have experiences that you probably can’t get from going to school. There’s no one way to do anything.”

Her first day in South Orange won’t be until July 26. Faherty said she doesn’t have any concrete plans for the SOPL until she starts the job and finds out what the staff and community need, but one of her bigger goals is to expand access to the library.

“They provide access,” Faherty said of libraries. “The Los Angeles Public Library is focused on equal access for everyone. That’s a very large system, but I’ve seen it taken down to smaller systems, and that’s the sign of a great library.”

The pandemic forced the SOPL to shut down in-person services in March 2020, like all other government agencies and businesses, but the staff had the doors ready to open again by July. It was earlier than many other libraries in New Jersey, and Faherty said some of the pandemic-era adjustments can stick around as life slowly returns to normal and the library looks more like it did before COVID-19.

“People always need to find information, whether it’s about vaccinations, what’s open and closed, and things like that,” she said. “We also have to look at what people really used. Everyone saw a surge in e-books, and there’s been no real drop in e-book usage. People have gotten used to that. We have to look at the services that worked and then expand them.”

Faherty became a librarian in the first place because she loved the romantic idea of being around books all the time, but she quickly fell in love with the community service aspect of the profession. Working with people is one of her favorite parts of the job.

“Working hands-on and serving teens is a fulfilling thing,” Faherty said. “You see their growth and how their minds expand. It happens with adults, too; you can see a change in people. I saw that at the New York Public Library offering services for parents. It’s magical.”

One of the most important things to Faherty is that everyone has access to the library, in whatever form they need. Some may want to walk into the building and ask a librarian in person for help; others may find it easier to use online catalogs and digital services. More still could need options that fall somewhere in between.

“I want to leave no stone unturned in making sure everyone has access,” Faherty said. “We have to make sure we have the right formats and information that they’re looking for, whether that’s print, digital or 24/7 access. It’s all based on what they want.”

Then there are the people who don’t frequent the library that often: Faherty wants to reach them and welcome them.

“I’m excited to meet the community and hear what they want more of,” she said. “I want to find those non–library users, and figure out how the team can reach them and get them to use the library.”