PHOTO: The new appointments will be working out of the Library’s Central branch in Jamaica. Courtesy of Historic Districts Council
By Forum Staff
The Queens Library this week made three executive appointments.
Library President and CEO Dennis Walcott on Monday announced that Nicolas Buron has been selected to be chief librarian and senior vice president; Kelvin Watson has been appointed chief operating officer and senior vice president; and Gitte Peng has joined the organization as chief of staff and senior vice president.
Buron has been with the Library since 1993 – first as a librarian, then library manager. He most recently served as vice president of Public Library Services. In addition, Buron has been active with the American Library Association and has served as a councilor and member of the Board of the Young Adult Library Services Association.
Prior to his appointment as COO, Watson served as the Library’s vice president/chief Information and Technology officer. He joined the Library four years ago as director of E-Services and Strategy. Watson is president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. He serves on the State Regents Advisory Council on Libraries and the Metropolitan New York Library Council Board. Watson also is a lecturer at Queens College’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Prior professional affiliations include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Borders, The Library Corporation and Ingram Book Company.
Peng previously served as senior education policy advisor for the Mayor’s Office during the Bloomberg administration, where she counseled Mayor Michael Bloomberg on all issues of education policy and school reform. She played a lead role in crafting and implementing historic school governance reform legislation establishing Mayoral Control of the city’s public schools as well as developing and overseeing the educational vision, strategies, and initiatives throughout the system. Peng has also worked at the City Board of Education and the National Urban League. She is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School and an independent documentary filmmaker. Peng’s “I Learn America” documentary chronicled the lives of five immigrant teenagers over a year at the International High School at Lafayette in Brooklyn.
“Queens Library’s mission is pivotal to the educational and cultural profile of the borough. These talented individuals will help me continue the great work that Queens Library does, and propel it into a solid future,” Walcott said.
