Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Buffalo and Erie County Library Director John Spears has died after a battle with cancer.
Spears was appointed Library Director in Buffalo in April 2022 following a national search. He brought with him more than 25 years of library management experience having worked in libraries in Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, and Utah.
The library says Spears will best be remembered for his leadership in advocating to protect intellectual freedoms. "He was known for taking a prominent stance in encouraging funding for libraries to continue to provide free, equal, and equitable access to information for everyone," says the library in a statement.
The library credits Spears with taking immediate actions in early 2023 to ensure public safety at the downtown Central Library when the decision was made to close temporarily in the wake of safety concerns caused by an influx of teenagers each afternoon.
Spears leaves behind his partner, Brian Dimit, his father, brother, and sister, and many friends in the library, Elmwood neighborhood and the Buffalo Quaker communities. He was 51
A public Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Donations in honor of John Spears can be made to the Library System’s Freedom to Read campaign at: https://bl.buffalolib.org/SpearsMemorial