Monroe Free Library Trustees appoint new library director

The Monroe Free Library Trustees have appointed Amanda Piekart Primiano as the library’s new executive director.

With a B.A. in history and an M.S. in library science, Primiano started out as an archivist and reference instruction librarian at the Passaic County Historical Society in Wayne, N.J.

In 2009 she moved to Berkeley College of New York and New Jersey, where she started out as a reference librarian at the college’s Woodland Park, N.J., campus.

She progressed quickly to positions with more responsibility within the college’s system and, beginning in 2013, Primiano became the instructional designer of information literacy for all six of the college’s campuses, a position she held for four years, while at the same time earning an M.S. in that field from Walden University.

In 2018 she worked for almost two years as the interim assistant director of the college’s White Plains and Paramus campus libraries.

‘Making sure we had projects that were meaningful’

Her most recent position at Berkeley was as the Director of Research and Instructional Services, working in that job from 2017 until she was hired by MFL.

Among the Berkeley accomplishments that stood out to her, she said “planning and making sure we had projects that were meaningful to the library was important,” and she mentioned “streamlining administrative processes and tracking returns on investment of time and effort.”

Also noteworthy to her was “serving as the VALE ( Virtual Academic Library Environment) conference chair for six years, the largest conference of its kind in New Jersey reaching all the academic libraries and librarians of the entire state.”

As a Monroe resident for five years, Primiano said she knows she already has a stake in the community’s library, and her vision as MFL’s new executive director is “to offer a safe space for community members of all ages to learn, grow, be inspired, and have judgment-free access to information.”

In addition, she and her husband Justin are the parents of two future library patrons, daughters Olivia, who is two-and-a-half years old, and Abigail who is 10 months old.

A resource at any stage in life

“A public library is a community resource that can be used at any stage in someone’s life,” Primiano said. “The public library will always be there for its community.

“When you’re a child it might be your first exposure to reading.

“When you’re a teen it might be your safe space to be yourself.

When you’re an adult the public library can be a social space, a place to learn the latest technology, spruce up your resume, look for a job, learn a new skill or even be exposed to different types of art, music, cultures, movies, books and so much more.

No matter the age,” Primiano added, “the public library has something to offer for everyone.”