Library Director

Chris Sagaas

Chris Sagaas joined The Library as Director in June 2017. Maintaining and enhancing The
Library’s reputation as a hallmark civic, cultural and architectural space in downtown Utica is
one of Chris’s goals. He is building on the strong community relations in the city and looks for
new and exciting ways to improve library services to Utica’s diverse population.

Chris is an instructor in the New York Library Association (NYLA) Library Skills Academy,
serves as the Reference & Adult Services Section representative on NYLA’s Legislative
Committee, and is also a member of the Central New York Library Resources Council’s
Legislative Committee.

He was formerly the Head of Branch Services: Central for Albany Public Library, where he
managed the public services staff of the library’s flagship downtown branch and a smaller
neighborhood branch. He has also worked in legal and academic libraries in New York State and
Virginia.

Chris is a Herkimer native who earned his BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University, and
his MLS from University at Albany. When not doing library work, Chris loves to go see live
music and root for SU, the New York Giants and New York Yankees.