AMESBURY - Marc Lankin, director of the Amesbury Public Library for the past eight years, died Thursday afternoon after a six-month fight against cancer.

Mayor Thatcher Kezer confirmed yesterday that Lankin died at 3 p.m. from throat cancer, saying he ended "a courageous battle." The mayor said Lankin's wife, Lindsay, and close family friends were by his side.

"It's a tough time for everyone," Kezer said. "As a municipal family, it's a loss."

Kezer said he notified all town department heads yesterday. The Library Trustees and staff received the sad news Thursday.

Lankin, 52, was hired as the library director in 1998. He has been on medical leave since the start of this year.

Lankin oversaw the library's daily operations and managed its staff, but he also led the library during lean financial times and dealt with several tough issues facing the library building. The library is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and in 2005, voters rejected a proposal to renovate the library, leaving the building at a crossroads. Lankin was an advocate for relocating the library to another building in town.

Before coming to Amesbury, he was the director of the Nesmith Library in Windham, N.H., the reference librarian at the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Del., the Burlington County Library in New Jersey and The Free Library of Philadelphia. He had a degree in library science from Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Lankin lived in Manchester, N.H.

In 2005, Lankin announced he was exploring opportunities for jobs in other towns. Lankin was offered a job as director of the Fitchburg Public Library, but turned it down. He was also one of two finalists in the running to be the director of the Framingham Library, but he was not selected. Lankin eventually opted to stay in Amesbury.

"Marc was a very dedicated public servant," Kezer said last night. "He was always putting the needs of the library and the community ahead of himself."

The mayor praised Lankin's dedication to the community, saying he "touched a lot of lives" through his involvement with literacy programs.

At the library, staff have placed a large photo of Lankin at the front desk marking the dates of his life. The library will have a memorial service for Lankin at some point, Trustee Sydney Baily-Gould said yesterday. The library staff is also collecting donations in Lankin's memory for a technology fund to update and add to the library's equipment.

"I'm very saddened by his death," Baily-Gould said. "He was a really dedicated library director and the library's going to miss him."