Jessica Magelaner - New Director of the Cortland Free LibraryNew Library Director Will Relocate From Turners Falls, MA – Where Her Last Post Was Director of the Orange Public Libraries, Orange, MA

The Cortland Free Library Board of Trustees today announced that it has hired Jessica Magelaner, MLIS of Turners Falls, Massachusetts as its new Library Director. The appointment was made based on a vote taken at the Board’s regular June 26th meeting, following an extensive, two and a half-month nationwide search. Magelaner begins on July 1st and will fill the position held by two interim and locally-known co-directors — Priscilla Berggren-Thomas and Kay Zaharis — after the library’s previous Director exited at the end of March, 2024.

A native of Granville, Ohio, Magelaner brings 14 years of librarianship — including 12 years of supervisory/library management experience — to the post, serving most recently as Director of the Orange Public Libraries, Orange Massachusetts since 2016; there, she also oversaw nearby Wheeler Memorial Library and Moore LeLand Library. Prior to that, Magelaner was Assistant Director/Interim Director of Mason Library in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (2011-2016), a Library Specialist I for Freedom Regional Library in Charlotte, North Carolina (2004-2010), and a Periodicals Assistant at Denison University, Granville, Ohio.

“The search committee was impressed with Jessica’s experience, particularly her attention to community needs, collaboration, outreach, and consensus-building. She’s well versed in creating and implementing special projects, overseeing collections, initiating community outreach, and staying up to date with technology.  We look forward to welcoming her and know that the community will benefit from her experience with a wide array of programming for all ages and constituencies,” said Board President, Lauren Mossotti-Kline. “I’m extremely grateful to the Trustees and staff who were engaged in the extensive search, which included multiple interviews, candidate visits to Cortland, and following up on numerous references.”

For her part, Magelaner looks forward to moving to Cortland, gaining a full appreciation of community dynamics and needs, and building on the Library’s legacy of excellence: “I’m grateful for this opportunity to work with a devoted board and a talented staff here in this beautiful historic building. I look forward to serving as your library director, and though there are many challenges facing libraries today, I’m committed to finding solutions together with the Cortland community,” shared Magelaner.

Highly competent in all areas of library service – including circulation, children’s services, senior services, reference, and all aspects of management — Magelaner earned her Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC and her Bachelor of Arts in English, from Salem College, Winston-Salem NC.

Wrapping up the announcement, Mossotti-Kline expressed heartfelt appreciation to Priscilla Berggren-Thomas and Kay Zaharis for their service as interim co-directors – and to the Library’s staff for their steadfastness, patience, and focus during this period of transition.

“We quite literally could not have done this without Priscilla and Kay holding the fort while our Board and personnel committee, in particular, conducted the search that led us to Jessica,” she said. “And the same is true of our exceptionally devoted staff. We are unceasingly grateful.”

We’re excited to share the news that Cortland Free Library has been awarded $2,000 in state funding and to express our gratitude to Senator Lea Webb and her staff for including our library in this allocation! We’re grateful for the recognition of the vital work libraries like ours do in our communities, and we’re proud to be included in such exceptional company, aka our peer libraries who are also recipients of this funding, all of them terrific and deserving institutions in their respective communities and service areas. In the video below, our Board of Trustees VP John Hoeschele joined other representatives from recipient libraries in expressing their thanks, touching upon likely uses for the funding, and the role libraries play in our communities.

CFL Library Director Jen Graney and NYS Senator Lea Webb standing on either side of a poster of Senator's Webb's District 52, which includes Cortland, Tompkins, and parts of Broome County.
CFL Library Director Jen Graney and NYS Senator Lea Webb with a depiction of District 52. Photo by Senator Webb’s office.

Cortland Free Library has been awarded $601,750 in NYS Library Construction Aid to fund the following projects:

  • Elevator Expansion/Reconfiguration: The elevator will be reconfigured to a three-opening unit with additional stops at the Art Gallery and Northwest Mezzanine, making these areas accessible for the first time to people in wheelchairs and others.

 

  • Main Reading Room HVAC System: This means air conditioning in the Main Reading Room! Those of you who have been here in the summer know that it sometimes hits 90 degrees in the stacks. With an eye towards energy efficiency, this new system will also help provide comfort and safety to staff, patrons, and our library materials.

 

  • New Spaces in the Main Reading Room: More exciting changes in the Main Reading Room include a build-out of the existing circulation desk and relocation to the center of the room; a dedicated Teen Space; a dedicated Community Room; a staff office partition; and a Makerspace to be added to the Northwest mezzanine!

 

  • Parapet Section Replacement: Southwest sections of the parapet are crumbling and allowing water seepage into the building; this replacement will help prevent future damage.

 

  • Permanent Exterior Sign: Highly visible, colorful permanent sign to be installed at the Northeast corner of the building.

Our thanks to Assemblymember Anna Kelles and Senator Lea Webb who announced the news of CFL and many other libraries in our region receiving this funding.

CFL will be responsible for matching up to 25% of the award. We’ve already begun planning for the project’s start, together with our Buildings & Grounds Committee (chaired by Myron Walter) and our architect Jon Carnes (Crawford & Stearns). We will also be working closely with the State Historic Preservation Office to ensure the work is aligned with the requirements and needs of our state-registered historic building. We expect this to be a multi-year project. Stay tuned as work gets underway!

These funds are from $34 million in capital funds for public library construction and broadband infrastructure projects provided in the FY2022-2023 State Budget. To view other projects that were funded and to learn more about the urgent need New York’s public libraries have for renovations and upgrades, visit https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/info/plcovrvw.htm