A familiar face is returning to Pasco County Libraries to assume leadership of the nationally recognized branch of county government.
The Pasco County Commission on June 20 confirmed the appointment of Sean McGarvey to the top post, at an annual salary of $125,000.
Cathy Pearson, an assistant county administrator who oversees the county’s libraries, introduced McGarvey to the board.
“He worked with us from 2013 to 2019, as one of our library administrators,” she said.
Pearson told the board that McGarvey has considerable library experience and IT knowledge. He left for a four-year stint to work at Hillsborough Public Libraries and is now returning to Pasco to serve as the library system’s director.
During his previous experience in Pasco, McGarvey led library operations projects including contract negotiations, grant execution, major IT system upgrades, personnel management, collection development, and facilities safety and security, according to background information in the board’s agenda packet.
He has also helped plan, fund and execute a general obligation bond vote campaign with Pasco County administration to remodel all county libraries in 2018.
McGarvey has collaborated with a number of organizations to implement new internal and external partnerships, including creating Pasco County’s first drone program, a first-in-the-nation library robotics team and a grant to distribute laptops to families in need.
The county board voted 5-0 to confirm McGarvey’s selection.
Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman told McGarvey he agreed with sentiments that were previously expressed by his colleague, Commissioner Kathryn Starkey.
Weightman would like to see a rebranding of the county’s library system, with an emphasis of maximizing their potential.
“What is a library today? What kind of resources can it bring? What kind of out-of-the-box thinking can we use these fantastic facilities for?” Weightman said. “What can we do to take our library system to the next level?”
Starkey said she’d like McGarvey to visit AmSkills, which focuses on equipping people with skills needed by today’s workforce. She’d also like McGarvey to revive the robotics team and spread it across the county.
Starkey said she thinks the county’s libraries need to be renamed, to reflect their role as community centers.
She’d also like to see an expansion of their use.
“Why not have more activities at these centers on the weekends and in the evenings?”
“We can do a lot more on these properties,” she said, adding she’d like to see playgrounds added at each library.
Starkey said she’d be interested in hearing what McGarvey learned in Hillsborough County that can be brought to Pasco.
The Florida Libraries Association (FLA) recently named the Pasco County Libraries system as the state’s Library of the Year, during the 2023 FLA awards ceremony.
On its website, the FLA reported that: “The Pasco County Library System provides innovative services, materials, programs, instructional classes, and informational events relevant to their populations.
“Most notably, the creative development of their library spaces has earned them the Library of the Year award.
“An ambitious makerspace initiative with heavy citizen input has added a custom makerspace to almost every library branch in the system. From ‘The Foundry’ woodshop at the Land O’ Lakes Library to the ‘Regency Fresh Test Kitchen’ in New Port Richey, citizens now have open access spaces to gather, learn new skills, and share ideas.
“The system’s newest branch, the Starkey Ranch Theatre Library Cultural Center (in Odessa) has multiple makerspaces and a 250-seat theater shared with the K-8 school next door.
“These unique spaces and their top-quality staff promote access to information, community, education, and culture throughout Pasco County and provide a blueprint of the 21st century Florida library.”
McGarvey said he actually shared ideas from Pasco with Hillsborough’s library system.
Noting the Pasco library system’s success, Commissioner Ron Oakley said he’ll be interested in seeing how McGarvey builds on that.
Oakley also noted how important the county’s libraries are to its residents.
Whenever one is closed for renovations, patrons can’t wait for them to reopen, Oakley said. He pointed to the Hugh Embry Branch Library in Dade City, as a recent example.
Published July 04, 2023
