[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9440-9441]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                      TRIBUTE TO DR. PAUL LeCLERC

 Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today I honor Dr. Paul LeClerc, 
president and

[[Page 9441]]

chief executive officer of the New York Public Library, NYPL, on the 
occasion of his retirement. On June 30 of this year, Dr. LeClerc will 
leave his post at the NYPL, having served as its leader since December 
1, 1993. Dr. LeClerc is a true scholar and leader and the New York 
Public Library and the city of New York will deeply miss his leadership 
at this iconic institution.
  The New York Public Library is one of the preeminent libraries in the 
world and under Dr. LeClerc's leadership it has implemented a series of 
initiatives that have made it a world leader in the field of 
information collecting and distribution. Just to name a few, these 
achievements include strategic alliances with the most important 
collections in Western Europe, South America and Russia; creating for 
the public's use one of the most advanced IT systems in any library; 
and creating a new Center for Scholars and Writers at the historic 
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue.
  In addition to being at the forefront of research, the New York 
Public Library's over 90 locations bring services to every neighborhood 
of the Bronx, Staten Island, and Manhattan. Last year alone, 15.4 
million New Yorkers visited these neighborhood branch libraries looking 
for services that they can't receive anywhere else; 2.4 million 
individuals visited the NYPL's four research libraries, accessing many 
of the collections and programs I have already described; and 25.4 
million people from around the world visit the Library's Web site and 
online collections each year. Dr. LeClerc has overseen all of these 
magnificent resources and we are so thankful to him for his passion and 
dedication.
  As Dr. LeClerc retires from the library, leaving his mark on its past 
and future, I would like to ask my colleagues to join with me today in 
honoring him for his over 17 years of dedication to the New York Public 
Library, the city of New York, and pursuers of knowledge 
worldwide.

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