New York University Bookstore Director Retires

May 4, 2003, marked JoAnn McGreevy's 33rd anniversary as director of the New York University Bookstores. As she plans her retirement at the end of this month, she recalled for BTW her extraordinary first day.

Hired for her competence as an area director for the highly regarded Brentano's chain for eight years, on May 4, 1970, she was as yet unfamiliar with the specifics of the university bookstore environment. That made her actions that afternoon, after four student antiwar protestors were killed by the Ohio National Guard on the campus of Kent State University, all the more remarkable. She opted to close the store for two hours as a memorial to the dead and injured at Kent State. That decision indicated to the distraught student body that, unlike previous administrators, this one was respectful of the students.

McGreevy quickly gained the respect of the NYU administration as well, when she reversed the bookstores' losses within 18 months. "I never expected to be here this long…. It's been a good run, " said McGreevy, a former ABA Board member, secretary, and vice president. Paul Jackel, trade book buyer, told BTW that McGreevy "has provided extraordinarily solid leadership through all times."

Recalling the days when inventory was on file cards and all book orders were placed by phone, McGreevy told BTW that computerization has made bookselling much more efficient for small stores. "Independents are doing a crackerjack job taking care of customers. People now want to have answers right away, and booksellers are much more knowledgeable," she said.

As director of the NYU Bookstores, McGreevy's domain includes the main store, which handles many course requests, clothing, and trade books; the computer bookstore, selling hardware and software; the professional bookstore, with the required books for the law school and business school; and the health sciences bookstore, providing books for the medical and dental schools. She supervises a full-time staff of 80, between 15 and 30 part-timers, and any number of seasonal employees from temp agencies. Phil Christopher, currently the acting director, will replace McGreevy. McGreevy plans to work for Habitat for Humanity and to work toward an advanced degree in art history.

After three decades at NYU, on September 11, 2001, McGreevy once again dealt with the ramifications of another national tragedy. Not far from the downtown campus, the World Trade Center towers collapsed following the terrorist attacks. In the September 20, 2001, issue of Bookselling This Week, McGreevy described how the NYU Bookstores were helping: "Recognizing that many students' lives had been thrown into chaos, we are giving, free of charge, all required textbooks to all students who were evacuated from their apartments and dorms." The school had four dormitories evacuated, and some of those students were unable to return to get their belongings. The university provided shelter, meals, and, in some cases, stipends for these displaced students. McGreevy noted, too, that NYU Bookstores' stationery vendors also donated boxes of school supplies to distribute to students. -- Nomi Schwartz