Katonah Village Library to welcome new director

By JEFF MORRIS 

She doesn’t start her new job as director of the Katonah Village Library until Aug. 3, but Catherine Riedel is already feeling right at home.

“It kind of feels like coming home,” the Greenwich, Conn., woman told The Recorder this week. “I raised my children in Croton-on-Hudson. I was there for 25 years, and when I was living in Croton, I did spend a lot of time in Katonah — because Katonah is a great place to come for the arts and many different wonderful experiences.

Riedel is transitioning out of her role at the Rye Free Reading Room, where she has been assistant director for seven years and recently served as interim director.

Though she’s done her share of moving, “I’m pretty much a lifelong resident of Westchester County,” Riedel said. Born in Tarrytown, she lived in Irvington for a while, then Port Chester. “I moved to Rye when I was maybe about 10 years old. And I graduated from Rye High School.” 

After getting her undergraduate degree at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., Riedel received her master’s in library and information science from Syracuse University. She also lived in New York City for a while before returning to Westchester.

During her time in Croton, Riedel co-founded a nonprofit performing arts school, the Croton Academy of Art. Also during that time she started working in libraries — first at the Ossining Library for 13 years, in all departments but primarily in teen services — and then in Croton.

“Then I went from Croton to Rye,” she said. “And that was sort of wonderful, because it was a full circle. It’s been a really great experience being back there.”

She sees the library as a place where you go “to have experiences that you can’t have anywhere else. And so my job as a director is to sort of listen, you know? Go out to the community, listen, and see what the needs are, and then meet those needs.”

Riedel said that’s what she’s been doing in Rye, having a variety of programs and engaging people in many different ways, trying to provide what they’re looking for depending on things like their ages, family situation and personal background.

“That’s the challenge of a library,” she said. “To really listen, really understand, and then fulfill the needs of the community.”

Asked if she had any message she would like to get out, Riedel said, “I am aware that this is a time of transition in the library. My goal would be to reach out to the community, to meet community members, and I’d love to hear input as to what they would like to see in their library. What services work? What’s not working? And what are their aspirations for the future? I’ll have an open door.” 

The Katonah Village Library Board of Trustees announced Riedel’s selection on July 2, saying, “We conducted a thorough national search, and we are confident that Catherine is the right leader for Katonah Village Library at this exciting and pivotal moment.” They said she was known for “her innovative programming as well as her ability to inspire and bring out the best in her staff.”

Riedel said she applauded the library board for the way they valued the input of staff in selecting a new director.

“Because really, a library is only as successful as it is because of the staff,” she said. “Everything that happens in the library is because of the staff. I really do believe that special people choose to work in libraries, people that really want to leave a positive imprint on the planet.” She said she has met with them and will be going back and forth between Katonah and Rye, where her final day is July 30th. 

She also said she’s been checking out the area.

“We don’t own a home in Greenwich,” she said. “We are in that stage of our life where we’re sort of waiting to see where our next home will be because of our children; we wanted to see where our children settled. And I have a fondness for the more northern part of Westchester. I could see us moving closer; I mean, Katonah’s lovely. And I feel like as a director of a library, you want to be connected to the community. So I will be spending as much time as I can in Katonah. Maybe eventually even relocating.”

You can expect to see a lot more of Catherine Riedel.