IN THIS ISSUE 2 A Note from the Director 3 Tax Prep & Author Fair 4-5 West River 6-7 Central 8 Keystone 9 South 10 Outreach 11 Library Friends 12 Special Services www. e lyr i al i brary. org Dear Friends Jennifer Starkey Warm regards, UPCOMING CLOSINGS Staff Training Friday, Apri l 29 Memorial Day Monday, May 30 2 Thank you to the community, the staff of the Elyria Public Library System, and the Board of Trustees for a warm welcome in December as your new library director. I am truly honored to be a steward of this wonderful public treasure that is your library system. I am a long-time Elyrian who moved to Ohio from Michigan in 2008. I started my library career in public libraries in 2002 at the Information Desk at the Ann Arbor District Library. I worked in academic libraries most recently, at Oberlin College Library for 9 years and since 2017 at the Kelvin Smith Library of Case Western Reserve University in a leadership role. Coming back to public librarianship feels like returning full circle to what drew me to libraries in the first place – the opportunity to use my energy to serve my community and lift people up. A little about me personally: I have two daughters, Fiona and Annabel who are in middle school in the Elyria Schools, and a wonderful partner, Walt, who makes us all laugh and who can fix just about anything. We have always been regular library users because my girls love to read, especially graphic novels. We enjoy outdoor life, camping, hiking, biking, and I’m into fitness – I like running, and I love the variety I get in CrossFit workouts. I also love to read memoirs and to get book recommendations. In my first few weeks of learning and listening, I have seen examples of the tremendous accomplishments of our staff; stories of people whose lives were impacted by visiting one of our libraries and asking for help; the love of books and learning that our staff shares at story times or preschool visits; all of the work behind the scenes to host informative programs, keep our spaces clean and inviting, and get books and media into people’s hands. We have an amazing team of people who care deeply about their work, and I can not wait to see what we can accomplish together in the coming years! I would like to invite you to come and enjoy what we have to offer and spend time in our beautiful spaces. Books are still our “bread and butter,” and yet we have so much more, from meeting rooms, cozy places to relax or be productive, technology to help you get business done, a slate of wonderful programs to inform and delight you and your families, and we even have board games, sewing machines and tools you can borrow. I’m excited to get started building upon the work of my predecessor, Lyn Crouse, and to imagine the future of our libraries!
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