Like the Nyack Library, Tracy Dunstan, its new director, is grounded in history. The library is more than 100 years old; you can still see vestiges of its early days in the original, vine-covered stone entrance and the oak finishes and fireplace in its first-floor Carnegie room. Tracy’s connection to history is a lot more recent, but lifelong.
Growing up in Fishkill, she became interested in early American history, eventually earning a master’s degree and a high school teaching certificate. Ultimately, she realized that being a teacher wasn’t a good fit for her personality. Instead, she was drawn to libraries.
“I love libraries, particularly this one,” Dunstan says. “And a library career combines everything I like: history, talking with people, and programs and events.”
She earned a second master’s in library science and began a new career, the last eight years as department head and assistant director at the Nyack Library before her promotion to director in September. Along the way, she served in regional library leadership roles, including president of the New York Library Association Roundtable.
Did You Know: “Library Voice”
Using a “library voice,” or speaking quietly while in a library, was once a rigid rule. Is it still a thing? “It depends on where you are in the Nyack Library,” Dunstan notes. “On the fourth floor, people really want to study or work so yes, but in the rest of the library, no. There are kids and families, and we want it to be a community center where people can talk and work together.”
Here for the Nyack Neighborhood
Tracy is confident that the library serves the community well. While books are important and always will be, she notes the library also offers meeting spaces, bike and hotspot rentals, free wi-fi, and engaging programs, projects, and events.
But she wants to do more: “I like to be creative and come up with new ideas.” While it’s early in her tenure, she’s already planning to add seating in the computer lab and is hoping to revive Papercut, the library’s former podcast series. And she’s passionate about programming and events.
In September, the library launched its first-ever Lit By the River, a five-day celebration of literature through workshops, film, and author talks in collaboration with Rockland County, ACOR, and Big Red Books.
While the event was planned before Tracy became director, she was instrumental in bringing in Bushra Rehman, author of Roses in the Mouth of a Lion, a book about being Muslim and queer that was chosen by Ms. Magazine as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time. And in October, the library celebrated the freedom to read during Banned Book Week by inviting the community to read aloud from banned or challenged books.
A Novel Idea
Tracy’s creativity extends beyond her library leadership, too. She’s writing a novel inspired by Oprah’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The premise: What would happen if a Black princess was born into a white royal family. She’s getting feedback on it from Bushra Rehman and from a fiction-writing workshop with writer and Big Red Books owner Richie Fulco.
The librarian novelist notes knowingly: “Nyack is a great town for writers.”
Library Love: It’s Mutual
It’s also a library-loving town. “Having worked in libraries elsewhere, I really appreciate the support that comes from people in Nyack. The community here is so welcoming and loving. It’s nice to know people have our backs. And if there’s something someone needs or they think the library should have, please let us know. Our great staff is here to help you.”
To learn more about the Nyack Library’s history, see Bill Batson’s articles “Nyack Sketch Log: The Nyack Library,” Part l and ll, in an earlier edition of Nyack News & Views.
…………………………………
About the author: Ellyn Hament is an editorial, marketing, and branding Swiss Army knife who’s worked for public media, museums, and the startup of iconic tech magazines. She once launched a successful baking business based on an old family recipe, and is currently writing a hybrid memoir about her neurodivergent older brother.
