Mollie Shauger

Staff Writer, @MollieShauger

Peter Coyl succeeds David Hinkley as library director

Coyl begins his duties March 1

The Montclair Public Library has a new director.

Saying Montclair is "a community that supports and really loves the library," incoming Montclair Public Library Director Peter Coyl expresses enthusiasm for the town as he prepares to lead its core information hub.

Following a national search, the Board of Trustees chose Coyl to succeed David Hinkley, who retired in December after 10 years as director, the library announced this week.

Coyl will join the library March 1, according to Wilfred Adkins, Board of Trustees president.

Coyl began his library career driving a bookmobile, a type of "traveling library," in Rochester Hills, Mich., according to a biography provided by the trustees. He is currently a senior librarian with the Dallas Public Library, which he has served since 2011.

“I am excited about the impact that I know Mr. Coyl will have on our library and our town,” Adkins stated.

Coyl received his undergraduate degree from Oakland University in Michigan and his Master of Science in library and information science from Drexel University. He’s also managed an international school library in Taiwan and, prior to his library work, was as a staff member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. He is chair of the GLBT Round Table of the American Library Association and a member of the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Texas Library Association.

The board had hired an interim director while it searched for a replacement for Hinkley. Members of the Director Search Committee included Chair Cliff Kulwin, Diana Lunin, Eve Schaenen, Alison Bauer and Clair Walls.

“Our national search resulted in dozens of outstanding candidates, and it was only with difficulty that we narrowed the group down to seven, with whom we had Skype interviews, and the three finalists, who came to Montclair,” Kulwin stated in an email.

The finalists each met with the board, various library stakeholders and staff, he said.

“Mr. Coyl was our unanimous choice. He impressed us with his broad vision for what a library can be, which with his considerable and diverse experience I am confident he can realize,” Kulwin told The Montclair Times. “It is clear that he views his work a cause, not just a job, and his enthusiasm comes through with every word.”

Kulwin noted that Coyl has been especially active in the national library community on issues related to intellectual freedom and gay rights, and is on "the top" of latest trends and technologies in libraries.

“In his personal statement he told us of his ‘passion for encouraging learning through reading and developing community through outreach and collaborative programs,’” Adkins stated.

Coyl told The Montclair Times that he wants to get to know Montclair first, but so far has recognized the "passion" the community has for the library.

"The library just finished their strategic plan. I want to talk to the community and see what the future holds, and ask 'what do they want from the library,'" he said by phone during a visit to the area to find an apartment.

"[The staff] are doing fantastic things. For the size the library is, it's a fantastic program they have going on," observed Coyl.

"I think there [have] been a lot of great things about the library, and it has a great foundation to build from," Coyl said. "I want to harness the good things that have happened and build from those."

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