The Roselle Park Veterans Memorial Library Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Audra D. Osorio at its library director at the February 15th library board meeting.
With over 22 years of experience as a librarian, Ms. Osorio (pronounced ō-SŌ’-rē-ō) holds a Master of Library Service Degree from Rutgers University. She served as the director of the Dunellen Public Library in 2016. Ms. Osorio also served as assistant director and head of youth services at the Mount Olive Public Library. She was also head of youth services and webmaster at Washington Township Free Public Library as well as the librarian at Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset, New Jersey.
Ms. Osorio’s appointment permanently fills the position that became vacant when library director Susan Calantone resigned at the end of June last year. Kathleen ‘Kit’ Rubino was appointed as the interim library supervisor while the board conducted its search for a director. Mrs. Rubino will return to a senior staff role.
“Kit has done a tremendous job and we, on the library board, are grateful to her. Her dedication and professionalism are outstanding and the library is lucky to have her,” said Mr. De La Cruz.
With assistance from the Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium (LMxAC) – which posted the job and helped in culling initial applicants – the Library Board assembled a committee which interviewed 10 preliminary applicants. The top three were selected by the committee and the final candidates were then interviewed by the full Board of Trustees.
“We are very pleased to bring aboard a library professional with Ms. Osorio’s credentials and management experience,” Mr. De La Cruz said, “We’re looking forward to working with her to move our library forward into its next great era of serving our community.”
Ms. Osorio remarked, “I’m delighted to join the Roselle Park Veterans Memorial Library . . . It’s a tremendous community resource and I’m eager to see it grow into an even more important role.”
A reception will be held on Saturday, March 4th, at 10 a.m. to welcome Ms. Osorio as its new director. The event is open to the public.
Ms. Osorio will start in her new position on Wednesday, March 1st with a salary of $69,000.