New Director, Same Great Library

We’re excited to introduce you to a new member of the Memphis Public Libraries family: Dr. Eric Harris! We sat down with Dr. Harris after a month in his new position as Director of the Memphis Public Libraries to learn more about him and his vision for the library system.

Coming into MPL, Dr. Harris was impressed with the house as it stood; the modernity of our new branches, the robust activities offered in the Central Library’s CLOUD901 (which he hopes to replicate in other branches), and multiple national award wins all caught his eye. “It’s great that we don’t have to come in and make all these drastic changes, because the library is already great as it is,” Dr. Harris reflected, “I’ve never met so many people who are just geared toward helping. That’s all they want to do.”

Dr. Harris credits all of these accolades and accomplishments to his predecessors and noted that he is excited to join the tradition of innovative library directors. “You know, I am only the eighth Library Director in the history of Memphis libraries,” he said, “the first was named in 1893, and there were no gaps [in leadership]. That’s some big shoes to fill.” Dr. Harris’s storied career has sharpened his leadership skills and led to a new, unique vision for the library. For instance, his strategy of tackling education from a business-focused standpoint has colored his approach to managing people within large, diverse systems. “When you’re in education, it’s people all day long,” said Dr. Harris. “It’s children, it’s parents, it’s teachers, it’s community members. You have to be a good people-person to be successful.”

The transition from Memphis’s school system to its libraries was one that came easily for Dr. Harris; his personal connection to MPL stretches back to the seventh grade, when he took advantage of our librarians’ unparalleled support to complete his summer reading assignments. Since then, he has introduced a whole new generation to the wonders of MPL: his own children, whom he would bring to the library to check out books “ten at a time.”

During his tenure, Dr. Harris plans to leave his own mark on MPL while staying wary of the challenges before him. “Our population is declining [in Memphis], which means there are less tax dollars available. There are fewer patrons, potentially, who are interested in our service. But it’s a matter of keeping the library relevant and moving forward, just like my predecessors.” For that, he hopes to build a culture of trust, growth, and efficiency to bolster the best aspects of the library that already exist.

“I think that even a person who may come to the library a few times a week, they don’t really get to see the full gamut of what a library offers,” Dr. Harris mused, “libraries are community hubs. Period. There are so many different activities that reflect not only the interests, but the needs of the community.” Under his newfound tenure, Dr. Harris aims to amplify everything MPL has to offer to continue meeting those needs. Maybe the next time you’re at your local library, you’ll see the needs of your community reflected back at you, just as Dr. Harris does.