One of New Canaan’s most important community organizations on Thursday announced a new leadership team and structure.
New Canaan Library officials said in a press release that Ellen Sullivan Crovatto, formerly vice president of external affairs and philanthropy, has been appointed CEO, and that Cheryl Capitani, formerly vice president of operations, is now library director.
Rob Lowe, chair of the library’s Board of Trustees, said in the release, “Both Ellen and Cheryl were intimately involved in the conception, building, funding and launch of our proud new home; together they helped make this dream a reality.”
He referred to the library’s hugely popular and heavily used new building and reimagined campus at Main and Cherry Streets, open since last February, including the green, which launched earlier this year.
Sullivan Crovatto, a town resident for 23 years, led the library’s $40 million-plus capital campaign for the project. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and went on to work in corporate finance as a managing director for several international investment banking firms, specializing in private equity fundraising for emerging markets.
Capitani started at the library as its first full-time teen services librarian in 2013. She has more than 20 years working in libraries and “decades of operational and library knowledge to the position” of director, the press release said. Capitani earned a bachelor’s degree from William & Mary and master’s of library and information science from UCLA.
Sullivan Crovatto said in the press release that it’s “a privilege to be asked to guide the mission of the library going forward after so many years of working with the community and the Board to conceptualize and secure the library’s future.”
“I am grateful for the partnership and support of Cheryl and the entire staff as we blaze a new path forward,” she said.
Capitani said that the library’s team “truly makes New Canaan Library special.”
“Ellen and I are excited to work with our staff to build on our many successes and to continue to bring excellent, innovative, and transformational library services to our community,” she said in the release.
The library Board’s vice president, Christine Seaver, said the library, which she described as “a sophisticated organization with the added complexity of being a non- profit, association library” required “strong leadership talent and operating skills” that were found in-house with the leadership team.
“As partners, Ellen and Cheryl share a passion for libraries and their vital role in communities, and they each bring a complementary depth of experience that will serve New Canaan Library in our next phase of growth,” Seaver said in the release.
“Our new building is a beautiful space designed to serve the vast range of our community’s needs, but it is our incredible team that truly makes New Canaan Library special. Ellen and I are excited to work with our staff to build on our many successes and to continue to bring excellent, innovative, and transformational library services to our community.”
Great news! The library and the town are fortunate to have such a dynamic leadership team!
Congratulations to both Ellen and Cheryl! The reality of the new library has far exceeded the dreams many of us had while it was being developed and built. So great to know those central to its success are now even more central to its future. I think the scientific terms is “win-win.”
Congratulations…