Chuck McMorran is the new assistant director for support services at the Haydon Burns Library.
WHAT DOES HE DO?
McMorrow’s responsibilities include cataloging, collection development and automation for the library system.
WHERE IS HE FROM?
McMorran was born in Pittsburgh. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from Weslyn College in West Virginia and then earned a master’s degree at Clarion University in Western Pennsylvania.
HOW DID HE GET HERE?
After graduate school, McMorran got a job as the library director of a small county in West Virginia’s library system. “It was a lot of good management experience and I learned that I really liked computers and automation. He then went to work for the Northern Illinois Library System, just outside of Chicago, as an automation consultant for 128 member libraries. In 1987, he was hired by Ken Sivulich (now the director of libraries in Jacksonville) to work in the Queens Borough Public Library. “I was hired to install their integrated library system. They were moving from an antiquated to a more fully functional system.” He was soon promoted to director of technical services, overseeing automation, development and cataloging. In 2001, he became the director of the Central Library in Queens. During a visit to Jacksonville last February, McMorrow learned from Sivulich about a job opening. Good timing and excitement about the rejuvenation of the city’s library system convinced him to take it. “I knew and respected Ken, and we share common philosophies on library science. I really enjoy my work and we’re all very excited about the support the libraries are getting from Mayor [John] Peyton and that they got from Mayor [John] Delaney.”
HOW DO JACKSONVILLE’S LIBRARIES COMPARE TO OTHERS?
“Because Jacksonville is smaller, it can sometimes do things faster than in a system like Queens. For instance, here we can send e-mail overdue notices and we weren’t yet able to successfully implement that in Queens. And, with a focus on technology such as wireless Internet capabilities and a better e-mail reference system, it will hold its own among the best.”
WHAT ARE HIS GOALS HERE ?
“Most exciting to me, and one of the reasons I came, is the Better Jacksonville Plan and the five new branch libraries and new Main Library it calls for. There are a lot of exciting opportunities to get involved in the construction and design of the new infrastructure.” One goal is to establish what McMorrow calls a customer focused self-charge system, where library patrons will be able to check themselves out. It’s already been introduced at the Regency Branch. In 2004, when construction on a new branch library on University Boulevard is finished, McMorrow’s operation will move there.
“At that point we’ll have the opportunity to streamline the entire process, and we’ll be able to get our books into the hands of the public more quickly. In Queens, we prided ourselves on having new books on the shelves on the same day that they were on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. We’d like to move toward that here.”
FAMILY
McMorrow has two children, a 20-year-old son who attends Penn State University and a 15-year-old daughter at Nease High School. He lives in Ponte Vedra Beach.
FAVORITE BOOK
McMorrow said “The Catcher in the Rye” is the one he returns to again and again. He also enjoys Asian writers such as Amy Tan.
— by Bailey White