At the June 26 meeting of the Great Neck Library Board, William Morrill was given a unanimous nod by the trustees to fill the vacancy on the board left by Don Stern. And at the meeting, a decision was made to re-create the position of Assistant Librarian which was eliminated in a re-organization several years ago. In addition, the board voted to appoint Interim Director Arlene Nevens to that position after the search for a new director is completed.

Mr. Morrill who became interested in following the affairs of the library about six years ago, served on the Nominating Committee as its chair, and has attended most of the meetings of the board of trustees. His background is in the field of education, serving both as a teacher and as an administrator in the New York City system. After retiring, Mr. Morrill became involved with COPAY, served as its president and is still active on its board of directors.

While Mr. Morrill is an avid technophile, he believes that there "is nothing like the pleasure of holding a book ... reading on a computer screen will never take its place." He commented that he is very distressed about the "in-your-face politics" that has characterized library board meetings in the last few years and hopes to set a tone where "one can disagree without being disagreeable."

Although at the board meeting, questions were raised about the re-establishment of the position of Assistant Librarian, the board took a firm stand as to its importance and the need to have someone with experience at the library to fill it.

According to Ms. Nevens, it is unusual for a library the size of Great Neck's not to have someone "who is clearly second in command. Structures work better when there is a hierarchy." She added that there is a great need for stability, especially during this period of flux. In addition, the job description has been written to be flexible and unspecific so that a new library director will be able to modify it to suit his or her needs.

The search for a new director is continuing apace.