Barbara Maloney (left) helps unveil a portrait of her son, Chris Maloney, in a program at the Ocean City Free Public Library on Monday. Acting Library Director Leslie Clarke looks on, and Mayor Jay Gillian and Library Board President Jennifer Shirk (both obscured) help with the unveiling.
Friends, colleagues and community members gathered Monday evening to remember Chris Maloney, the popular Ocean City Free Public Library director who died in December 2013 at age 45.
In a program at the library, they unveiled a portrait of Maloney by Ocean City artist Nancy Palermo and named the Chris Maloney Lecture Hall in his honor.
But the people who knew him said that Maloney still lives — not just in the room that bears his name but in the library itself.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Ocean City Community Center Association and Ocean City Historical Museum board member Ken Cooper told Maloney's mother, Barbara Maloney. "But I assure you he is here with us now."
Portrait of Chris Maloney by Nancy Palermo, who was unable to attend the dedication due to illness.
"It's a tough day," Mayor Jay Gillian said. "But he'll be here forever."
Maloney was hired in 1998 as the reference librarian, and he became director in 2003, making the facility his life.
"He had a vision to keep the library up to date with technology," said Jennifer Shirk, president of the library's Board of Trustees. "Libraries have come a long way from being just warehouses for books."
Under Maloney's direction, the library became a community resource for online resources, digital music and movies, computer services, community meetings and vast array of special programs and activities.
And Maloney made sure his vision was carried through.
"No job was too big or too small," Shirk said.
Maloney died in his Somers Point home sometime before New Year's Eve. His absence was first noticed when he failed to open the library for First Night events.
Maloney was born in Haddonfield. He attended Paul VI High School and Holy Family University in Philadelphia. He received his masters degree in library science from the University of Buffalo.
Barbara Maloney on Monday said that her son had survived childhood leukemia at age 4.
"He was given many more years, and he lived them well," she said.
Maloney said Chris's family (including his four siblings) is grateful that the community will remember him with a permanent legacy.
She said Chris always was extremely proud of the library, of its popularity and of Ocean City itself. He would show her around every time she visited.
"And when I left, I always felt like I was leaving him with family," she said.
She summed it up with a quote from William Butler Yeats:
"Think where man's glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends."
Portrait of Chris Maloney by Nancy Palermo, who was unable to attend the dedication due to illness.
"It's a tough day," Mayor Jay Gillian said. "But he'll be here forever."
Maloney was hired in 1998 as the reference librarian, and he became director in 2003, making the facility his life.
"He had a vision to keep the library up to date with technology," said Jennifer Shirk, president of the library's Board of Trustees. "Libraries have come a long way from being just warehouses for books."
Under Maloney's direction, the library became a community resource for online resources, digital music and movies, computer services, community meetings and vast array of special programs and activities.
And Maloney made sure his vision was carried through.
"No job was too big or too small," Shirk said.
Maloney died in his Somers Point home sometime before New Year's Eve. His absence was first noticed when he failed to open the library for First Night events.
Maloney was born in Haddonfield. He attended Paul VI High School and Holy Family University in Philadelphia. He received his masters degree in library science from the University of Buffalo.
Barbara Maloney on Monday said that her son had survived childhood leukemia at age 4.
"He was given many more years, and he lived them well," she said.
Maloney said Chris's family (including his four siblings) is grateful that the community will remember him with a permanent legacy.
She said Chris always was extremely proud of the library, of its popularity and of Ocean City itself. He would show her around every time she visited.
"And when I left, I always felt like I was leaving him with family," she said.
She summed it up with a quote from William Butler Yeats:
"Think where man's glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends."
