The Bayonne Public Library Board has appointed Melody Scagnelli-Townley as new director last week after serving as acting director since March.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I look forward to even greater opportunities for the library to grow! The completion of renovations is just the first step in the rejuvenation plan for our wonderful Carnegie Library,” Scagnelli-Townley said in a statement.
“Exciting things are coming! Please watch for our grand reopening and come experience all the Bayonne Public Library has to offer.”
Scagnelli-Townley previously served as Bayonne Public Library’s Outreach Librarian from 2019 until February 2023, and began her stint as the interim director just as the large renovation project began on the Library’s historic main branch building on Ave C and 31st Street.
Board President Maribeth Doria said that the trustees expressed that Melody “exceeded expectations in the time, effort, skills and abilities she has committed to learning what is necessary to perform her job duties and to manage the Library, including all aspects of the Library construction project, and numerous other accomplishments, and has demonstrated she has the qualifications and abilities to serve as library director.”
Prior to coming to Bayonne Public Library, Scagnelli-Townley worked in the Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS), the Mahwah school district, and the Woodbridge school district.
Scagnelli-Townley was named an American Library Association Emerging Leader in 2017 and recently finished a term on the 2022 Alex Award Selection Committee.
The Alex Award is a national award given annually to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.
She previously guided the Library through the eContent transition from Axis 360 to Hoopla and negotiated with Ancestry to secure a digitization contract for the Library’s archives of historic newspapers.
“I look forward to even greater opportunities for the Library to grow! The completion of renovations is just the first step in the rejuvenation plan for our wonderful Carnegie Library. Exciting things are coming!” Scagnelli-Townley
“Please watch for our grand reopening and come experience all the Bayonne Public Library has to offer.”
Scagnelli-Townley lives in Bayonne with her husband and three-year-old daughter.
