Director of the Yeadon Public Library, Richard Ashby, living out his
motto “Literacy and Justice for All” by Mary A. Jones ReadyWriter@MAJones.net (215)
558-8673
Richard Ashby, Yeadon Public Library Director, at left,
and first in the second row.
Richard Ashby, a native of New
York, is an award winning librarian who started as a security guard in the very
same library that challenged him through adversity to get his Master’sDegree in
Library Science. He accomplished this in 2009, and is the first African
American and the only male director of a library in the Delaware County.
Richard Ashby has been the
director of the Yeadon Public Library for one year and a few days as of
December 10, 2014. Since coming to Philadelphia from New York with his wife and
son, a great deal has been accomplished as the director. I have found him to be
innovative and productive – thinking outside of the box. He is a man of
solutions and not one to seed into the problem.
The vision Richard has for the
Yeadon Library is to expand the collection by weeding out the old; adding a new
and relevant collection to the library. His vision expands beyond the library
and spills over into the community, in which he gladly serves. His expectation
is to meet up to,if not surpass,the libraries in the surrounding counties,
through professionalism and good customer service. This means, he has a plan
for his staff, which involves giving them the support and training they need to
effectively serve the community at the Yeadon Library.
Mr. Ashby is clear about where
the burden falls, but as he says to his staff: “treat people the way they want
to be treated, not the way you want to be treated.” Whenever new management or
a new administration comes into any organization, change is inevitable. Change
is not always easy, but when done with wisdom, it can be profitable.
Through observation, having an
ear to hear the needs of those that spend most of their time in the library and
those that work for the library, he was able to see a solution to a problem.
The solution was to develop an afterschool program now called Café 3. This is a
3 fold endeavor. The teens work with the staff by working with the small
children. This is three generations coming together for a good cause in the
community at the Yeadon Library. From 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. the teens work with
the children by helping them to do their homework. At 4:30 p.m. snack is
provided by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Arts and crafts are available for
the children until it is time for them to go home around five. They are also
looking to starting a Chess Club.
The future growth of the Yeadon
Public Library is in good hands. There is much to do and with the support that
he has from his staff, they shall accomplish what they have set out to do. Being
a pastor and a servant of Jesus Christ, you can hear the sincerity he has for
meeting the needs of the people.
It is his sincere hope more
people come to the library to read, take out books, purchase movies, etc. He
genuinely wants to know what the needs of the people are so that he can provide
the resources.I see due season for this library and it shall thrive with a
burst of education on many levels and through many avenues.Ashby is so
convinced of this himself that he said: “In 2015 every
teen in Yeadon will have a library card, no matter what.” This gives them
access.
Up and coming events and
programs: A Black History Maze in February, Entrepreneurial Training and
Development for teens and adults, ESL classes, a radio show for the youth,
programs for building African American families, showcasing authors each
month, etc. There is so much taking
place that you must visit the Yeadon Library and make it your home.
Monday -
Thursday 10:00am.-9:00pm, Fridays 10:00am.-6:00pm, Saturdays 10:00am.to 5:00pm
809 Longacre
Blvd., Yeadon, PA 19150, (610) 623-4090, www.YeadonLibrary.org.
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