ERVING — While the new library building is closed for the time being, new Library Director Natane Halasz (pronounced “Na-ta-nee”) has quietly started work.
Halasz replaces Barbara Friedman, who retired in late June after 11½ years as the library director. Friedman had originally planned to stay in Erving only a few years, but changed course to see the library through the design and construction of its new building on Care Drive, which was finished and opened in March — then closed 10 days later due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
“It’s definitely an interesting time to start a new job,” Halasz said. “Any new job, but particularly here in Erving — because, as we know, most libraries are still closed to the public. We have this beautiful new building … and we don’t have people in it yet.”
Halasz has been a librarian for four years, and had been thinking about a career as a librarian for years before that. She worked as a college administrator for six years, and finished her master’s degree in library and information sciences while working at Hampshire College. Before coming to the Erving Public Library, Halasz was director of the Leverett Library for two years.
When Halasz was in elementary school, her mother went back to school to pursue her bachelor’s degree, and would bring Halasz to college libraries and public libraries while she studied.
“I’ve always had that love and I’ve always had that appreciation, and I always wanted to work in them,” Halasz said.
In small Western Massachusetts towns, Halasz said, the library is not only a source of information, but it also often has a special role as a hub of community activity.
She was drawn to Erving because the town obviously values its library, she said, given its prolonged investment into the new building.
“The fact that they built this library, and that the town wanted it and got behind it, to me indicated a town that believes in libraries and supports the mission of libraries,” Halasz said.
Regarding reopening the library, Halasz said there is no definite plan yet, but options are being considered for making appointments, or allowing special hours for populations that are most susceptible to COVID-19.
For now, the library can still lend materials by coordinating pick-ups and drop-offs through its outdoor lockboxes.
“There are plenty of ideas brewing,” Halasz noted. “It’s just, everything feels a bit on-hold.”
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.