What Dighton's new library director thinks about library culture wars, why he loves books

DIGHTON — The biggest challenge the town's new library director will face will be moving all of the books, supplies and services from the library's current location, a cramped trailer next to town hall to Smith Memorial Hall when that location's renovations are complete in 2025.

But Mark Procknik, whose first day on the job will be Dec. 18, is not worried.

He's handled a big library move before. In 2015, he was the full-time librarian for the New Bedford Whaling Museum when its library was located several blocks north of the main Johnny Cake Hill facility. It was his job that year and into 2016 to organize moving all of its collections and services to newly created space at the museum itself.

"I organized, planned all the logistics, even rolled up my sleeves and did packing myself," he said with a sense of pride in his accomplishment, not a boast. "We started planning the week before Christmas and moved in our new space in May 2016."

He said the people interviewing him for the Dighton job asked him how organized he is, and this example was his answer.

It obviously was a convincing one.

Where is the current library director going?

He'll be replacing Jocelyn Tavares, who recently became the library director in Swansea after serving as the chief librarian in Dighton for over 15 years.

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Who is the new library director?

The man chosen by a screening committee and the Library Board of Trustees to replace her was born in Taunton and raised in Lakeville, where he still lives. He discovered he had an interest in history while a student at Apponequet High School. So he majored in the subject at Stonehill College.

But then he did something that made him realize his favorite part of being a history major was doing the research. In his senior year, he became an archival intern. He held that internship position during the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009, and among his projects was cataloging the work of famed Enterprise photographer Stanley Bauman (1946-2007). Unsurprisingly, after graduating from Stonehill he enrolled to earn his master's in library science from Simmons College in 2013.

His first internship while at Simmons was at UMass Dartmouth, the second at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. When he was then hired for a paid internship at the museum, he recalled being asked how good he was at customer service. He said "excellent" and gave them a good example. In 2008, when he was a bagger at the Hannaford in Middleboro, he was the market's first "Service Star of the Month," then won the honor a second time.

"So I had hard proof," he said. "I like interacting with people."

That answer was possibly one of the reasons he was hired as the museum's part-time librarian in 2011, he said. He became the museum's full-time assistant librarian in 2012 then full-time librarian in 2013.

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Why then did he apply for the Dighton job? He said one reason is he thought it might be a good career opportunity for him. The other reason is that his paternal grandmother and cousins grew up in Dighton. An aunt and a great aunt still live in Dighton.

"So I have fond Dighton roots," he said.

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Priorities as Dighton library director

Come Dec. 18, what will be his first priority?

He said one of the first things he'll look at is planning the Dighton library move.

"It'll be a task for late 2024," he said. "But you can't let things slide. I will make sure every T is crossed, every detail addressed. I will make sure I get a good handle on the move, the logistics of the move. I don't want this move to get ahead of us. "

His other priority, he said, will be personal connections.

"I want to build relationships and meet people," he said. "I like people to think I'm approachable. I like to make everyone feel comfortable. Anyone can approach me on anything library-related."

What about library culture wars?

In an era of library book bans and protests against tomes with certain political agendas, Procknik offered a philosophy that should make every Dighton patron comfortable.

"The current director of the Boston Public Library once said there's no mandatory reading list with a library card," he said. "You alone make the decision what to read. In the same way, you don't get to force your reading list on other people."

He elaborated with an example from his time as a librarian at the Whaling Museum.

With people who might come in to research one side of an historical issue, the side that person may already believe and just wants to confirm, he would always note the existence of literature covering the other side of their "aisle."

"Books on the other side of an issue should be there too," he said. "And it's not my right to push one side or the other, but to present both sides. At the museum, I made sure a researcher knew that more information exists. If you find the other side of your argument, it then strengths that argument."

Ron O'Connor, chair of the Dighton Library Board of Trustees, added to this picture of the new director by noting, "Mark brings extraordinary enthusiasm and passion for libraries and their role as centers for engaging community residents. As a professional librarian with many years of experience at the non-profit New Bedford Whaling Museum, he will bring a new perspective to the operations of our municipal library. His experience in moving the New Bedford Whaling Museum library to a new building will be invaluable as we prepare to move the Dighton Public Library to the historic Smith Memorial Hall in 2025."

While Procknik's dedication to his profession is real, note he is not just a bookworm.

He said he's also a drummer in three area bands: the Tri-County Symphonic Band in Marion; Our Lady of Light Band in Fall River; and the Pit Orchestra for the Southeastern Massachusetts Festival Chorus in Taunton.

"I like to joke, 'During the day, I tell people to be quiet. At night, people tell me to be quiet,'" he said.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Dighton's new library director is Whaling Museum's Mark Procknik