Good-bye, Barry

The Tech Desk says good-bye to one of our aides, Barry Hyland. Barry is leaving the Library’s Technology Department to move on up in the Troy Library world.

Beginning May 2, Barry will be the Library’s Systems Administrator, coordinating our move from one automated library software system to another. With 50,000 members and 350,000 items, this is a huge task. We are sure Barry is up for the challenge.

Barry joined the staff of the Library at a young age (see photo) and has been a fixture at the Technology desk ever since. He has helped hundreds of library users – and staff – master Excel. He has saved countless, crucial documents for our patrons – always with an eye toward teaching them proper skills. And he has answered questions about email, databases, scanning, and media files, that are too numerous to count.

In addition, Barry has used this blog to caution against technology run rampant, the decline of reading and communication, and the social costs of social networking.

While we will miss his expertise, it is good to know that an important project is in such capable hands. Barry has said he will keep you posted about the progress of his new assignments on The Tech Desk.

Best of luck, Barry.