In a contract signed on May 27, Christine T. Salita has been hired as director of the Great Neck Library, widely considered to be the jewel in the crown of this community. On July 6, Ms. Salita, who leaves the equivalent position at the Smithtown Library, will officially step into the post held by Kenneth Weil until December 1997, and most recently filled by interim director Arlene Nevens.

Mischa Schwartz, president of the library's board of trustees, stated, "The board looks forward with delight and great anticipation to having Christine Salita here with us. Her references were so outstanding, there was no question we would try to get her to come here, and she accepted."

Ms. Salita's initial interest in the position dates back a few years when a Library Journal article described the Great Neck Library as the premier suburban library in the United States, in terms of the level of community support, scope of materials and programs, and superior staff. She recalls making a mental note that if the directorship "ever became vacant, I wanted to take a shot at it."

That event came to pass last December when she read the library's hiring ad for a new director in The New York Times. After submitting her resume for consideration, Ms. Salita made a "covert visit" to the library on a Sunday in February. Immediately recognizing the Ken Gibbons architecture and trademark stone facade exterior, familiar to her from the Half Hollow Hills Community Library in Dix Hills where she served as director from 1991 through 1995, Ms. Salita "knew the potential of what it (the library) could be."

Christine Salita's extensive 20-year background in library work has enabled her to carve out a pragmatic philosophy. "The library functions as an organic whole. All the parts work together. That's the only way the institution can work correctly. All of the branches, staff and collections must be complementary...the administration, staff, board and public must share a common vision and work together to achieve it. It is the harmony of the components of community and organization that will determine the success of the endeavor."

Based on meetings with the library's board of trustees, she feels "they have one common goal...to create a firm foundation on which to build."

Regarding planned renovations of the three satellite facilities and the main branch, Ms. Salita stated, "Renovations will be done sequentially. Parkville will start around Labor Day and will move into temporary space until the work is completed. Then Lakeville, then Station, and then Main."

As the new director, her top three goals for the library will encompass enhancing the infrastructure "to address accommodations that lead to efficiencies"; involving the community more in the library, which is already a "central organization...a cultural hub...having more direct contact with the community, and soliciting people's opinions so we don't make decisions in a vacuum," and continuing "to expand on the excellent collection that has been developed over the years, to meet the public's informational, educational and recreational needs in an efficient and cost-effective manner."

Asked about her professional style of dealing with people, Christine Salita replied, "I am as hands-off as I possibly can be, and as hands-on as necessary." She added, "I like to manage by walking around...going out and meeting my constituency."

In response to comments from library patrons about the unavailability of in-demand books, she said, "A collection should be constantly in motion. Books should circulate and not gather dust on the shelf. They have to be useful and desirable to the public."

Her view on the library's role in the education of our children: "The early childhood gateway to learning is to get people in the library at a young age and then they come to value the library first from an entertainment perspective, then educational. Just by being here, they see what it means to them."

Ms. Salita finds that the children's room at the main building is "much too small." Referring to the staff long-range planning committee set up by interim director Arlene Nevens that will begin this summer to consider space needs, she added, "We will address this with our needs assessment study and long-range planning."

Dr. Schwartz added, "We are hoping Ms. Salita's skills as a conciliator and facilitator will be useful to the library as it moves forward in the long-range planning process."

Speaking about providing more computers for children to use in the library, the new director feels that "as time goes on, more and more children will already be computer literate as they walk in the door of the library." Referring to her tenure at Smithtown, she recalled, "We introduced educational software, not games. It became a family centered activity...Parents, children, grandparents clustered around the computer...a wonderful time. Often, the youngest in each group was teaching the older family members how to use the computers...Let the children lead if they are talented!"

After chairing the technology advisory committee of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System from 1994 to 1997, she states that technology "is a tool, a means to an end. We use technology to serve the public. We do not worship at the altar of technology. We use technology to improve the level of service we give the public." Ms. Salita also served for two years on the executive committee of the Partnership for Automated Libraries in Suffolk, which effected the formation of a 28-member library automation cooperative.

In the little spare time she finds, Christine Salita is an avid reader, and a self-described "mystery addict." Her favorites authors include Dorothy Sayers.

Asked about the potential replacement of printed books by the computerized word, she adamantly replied, "There is a totally different experience when you read text on a screen, as opposed to holding a beautiful book in your hands. I don't think books are going to go away. I can't imagine cuddling up in an armchair with a good computer terminal."

Speaking about the growing popularity of e-mail as a communications tool of choice, she feels, "E-mail has revolutionized the way we communicate...instantaneously and at your own convenience... gleaning more information from people than from using memos or telephone calls."

She intends to maintain high visibility, stating, "I will be at every possible meeting I can be. Visibility is essential. How can you take the pulse of the community if you don't do it hands-on?"

Toward this end, Dr. Schwartz stated that he is considering hosting a "meeting in the Community Room in the early fall, perhaps an open house, for the public to meet Ms. Salita."

In addition to her professional qualifications, Christine Salita brings substantial experience working with community service organizations, most notably as president of the Melville Rotary Club, and district 4726 promotion chair of the Rotary Foundation, which involved countywide speaking engagements. She serves on the SUNY Stony Brook Friends of the Library advisory committee, as well as the Suffolk County Advisory Council of the New York State Division for Women, which deals with feedback on legislation and programs relating to women's issues for the executive branch of local government.

Summarizing her vision for the library, Ms. Salita employed one of her favorite literary styles, the alliteration: "Enrich, entertain, enhance...and excellence is what they all result in."

She concluded, "Great Neck has a high socio-economic profile, strong community-mindedness, strong supportive nature of anything to do with education. It is an optimum environment for a library.

"I am absolutely delighted to be coming to Great Neck. I am looking forward to taking the helm and working with the staff, the board and the public to make Great Neck an even better library than it already is."

When asked if she had had a choice of a directorship at any other library, would she still have chosen Great Neck, Christine Salita's answer was an emphatic "Yes!"