Mario González: Library Service Leadership...

For over 35 years, Mario González has held important roles and exhibited leadership skills that have helped to strengthen communities. His career began in 1969 at the New York Public Library where he held a variety of positions including Branch Manager and Acquisition Assistant for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. In 1982, Mario González became a Community Specialist in the Borough of the Bronx, serving as an advocate for library services to ethnic and multi-cultural groups. There, he advised librarians across 34 branches in developing community-focused programs that were available in multiple languages.

Three years later, Mario González was given the position of Assistant to the Coordinator, Office of Special Services, and in 1991, he became the Head of General Reference & Advisory Services Department at the Mid-Manhattan Library. His last position with the New York Public Library was Coordinator for the Office of Services for Persons with Disabilities from 1992 until 1996. During his career at the New York Public Library, Mario González received many awards for his outstanding achievements, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Service Award for Service to the Homeless.

In 1996, Mario González worked for the Houston Public Library as Assistant Director of Public Services, where he was responsible for the policy, decisions, and delivery of all public service activities. A year later, he returned to New York and worked as the Director of Programs & Special Services for the Brooklyn Public Library.

Mario González Today...

In 1999, Mario González became the Library Director at Greenwich Library in Connecticut before retiring in 2009. However, he continues to exhibit ambition, leadership, and a passion for strengthening the community in his role as Library Director with the Passaic Public Library in New Jersey. He has been elected President of the Board of Executives of PALS Plus, the Passaic County library consortium, and President of the Passaic Chapter of Rotary International.