Conversation With...Tim Rozgonyi It was his ability to recognize good opportunities – and maybe a little bit of luck – that allowed Research Editor Tim Rozgonyi to find a career that combines the two things he believes represent democracy at its finest – freedom of the press and freedom of information.
	Tim Rozgonyi, Research Editor St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg, Fla.

Born and raised in Duquesne, Pa., a town just outside of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River, Tim earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Anne, moved to Hawaii shortly after having their first daughter. Tim had worked in a library while he was earning his bachelor’s degree, so getting a job in the Hawaii State Library System was a natural choice.

Eventually, Tim moved to the circulation department at the main library at the University of Hawaii. The library school happened to be in the same building, so Tim worked full time while earning his master’s degree in library and information science.

After graduating from the university in 1988, Tim and his family – which now included a second daughter – moved back to Pittsburgh. He worked at a special library for a nonprofit printing industry association for about three years before getting a job in the library at the Pittsburgh Press, which the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette eventually purchased. He worked there for 14 years, spending the last 10 handling technology issues in the newsroom, which helped him understand the practical details of how a newsroom works.

Tim and I chatted about his professional inspiration, his eclectic taste in literature, and exactly what it means to be a research editor for the St. Petersburg Times.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a rock star or some kind of a star athlete or a famous novelist. Some kids know exactly what they want to be when they grow up, but not me. I believe you make a path by walking on it. I look at my career that way. I stayed open to good opportunities and created my own career path as I went along.

You manage the archiving and research operations for the St. Petersburg Times. What does that entail?
I manage 15 archivists and news researchers. The archivists’ job is to preserve published content. They go through and selectively choose which content to preserve, focusing on items that we have the rights to and that have long-term value. By long-term value, I mean historical records of our community, not an announcement about the local church’s spaghetti dinner or the pet of the week. Newspapers are all about “today.” The news library is all about tomorrow, or 10 years from now, so we preserve content that will matter in 10 years.

The news researchers support the newsroom, which includes all of our publications and our website (www.tampabay.com). They perform background and criminal record checks, they track people’s holdings and business dealings, and they amass large amounts of information and draw conclusions. They lend support to whatever is needed.

What are you most proud of in your career?
Looking back, the thing I take pride in is that news libraries combine two ideals that represent democracy at its finest – freedom of information and freedom of the press. Libraries represent freedom of information, and everyone is equal when it comes to getting information. And newspapers are also a hallmark of democracy with freedom of the press. News libraries represent what democracy is supposed to be about.

What do you see as the biggest issue facing libraries today?
The biggest issue is learning how to let go of the library structure and hold on to the purpose. We don’t know if libraries will exist in the future, but it’s not about the structure of the organization or how big the building is. The need for information professionals who know how and where to access reliable data is not going away.

In the newspaper industry, there are newspaper libraries that are shrinking or going away, but I believe their function will not go away. With the expanding amount of information available, that need will never disappear.

What do you envision the newspaper library of the future to look like?
I know there will be a true need for people to fulfill that function, whether they’re gathered together in a space that has books and photos and a physical collection, or whether they’re scattered out there among the different departments.

Newsrooms focus on “today.” Our newspaper library picks up where the newsroom leaves off. Yesterday’s news is our bread and butter. So the need for someone to archive information in a way that’s reliably accessible will never go away. The more information that’s out there, the more we will have a need for librarians.

What three skills, abilities, values or areas of knowledge have you found most necessary in being a strong leader?

1. Putting your people first. A good leader is only as good as the folks of whom he is in charge. To me, it’s about helping them do well at what they’re good at and making sure they have what they need.

2. A sense of humor is really important.

3. You have to keep your head, have a good sense of perspective and realize that not everything is a catastrophe.

What is your favorite book and why?
I don’t have a favorite. I have very eclectic tastes. For example, I enjoy Ian McEwan because I believe he writes true literature, but I also enjoy Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries because they’re light and fun.

Any hobbies or interesting tidbits to share?
I enjoy being outdoors, whether it be doing some gardening, taking a nice long hike or just hanging out at a local park. I have a large and varied collection of music, am a big sci-fi fan and enjoy writing. I also shoot a pretty mean game of pool.

Being with my family is very important. I’ve been married for 25 years. My wife and I have two daughters in their 20s, both living in St. Petersburg. We also have a 13-year-old Dalmatian, Ursa, who runs our home.