Ex-BPL chief Margolis lands library, education post in N.Y.

The former head of the Boston Public Library has won a new job as New York's state librarian and assistant commissioner of education. The New York state Board of Regents confirmed the appointment of Bernard A. Margolis to the Albany post yesterday.

"Just as the Yankees took Babe Ruth, Boston's loss is our gain," said Tom Dunn, New York Education Department spokesman. "We are thrilled."

Margolis spent 11 years as president of the Boston library system before he was ousted last year by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who complained that Margolis paid too much attention to the main Copley Square branch at the expense of neighborhood branches. Margolis, denying the charge, compared the Menino administration to an authoritarian regime and said Menino's "anti-intellectual bent" threatened the integrity of the renowned library, one of the oldest in the nation.

Margolis was not the first department head to leave the administration with ill feelings but has been the most outspoken. The harsh public statements about the mayor prompted a state ethics probe of possible patronage hiring by the Menino administration and made finding another post more difficult for Margolis.

"I am thrilled about this wonderful opportunity to lead New York's State Library," Margolis said yesterday. "It will be rewarding . . . and fun."

In New York, he will oversee one of the largest research libraries in the nation with more than 20 million collection items and nearly $100 million in state and federal aid to local libraries.

After a six-month search, the city of Boston recently hired a librarian from Minneapolis to take over the library presidency. Amy Ryan, who began work earlier this month, has received high marks so far from Menino.

"She is a breath of fresh air for the library system," said the mayor's spokeswoman, Dorothy Joyce. "She's energetic and responsive and . . . an asset to moving our library forward."

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.