Plainfield
Mary King, director of Meriden Library, has been selected by the Plainfield board of library trustees to also lead Philip Read Memorial Library, in Plainfield village. She will step into the newly created role on July 1.
What were formerly two part-time director positions have been reconfigured to become a single, also part-time job with more hours, Nancy Liston, library trustee, said last week. “The board just wanted to provide more coordinated services and cost savings” and better service for patrons.
King will be the first director of both libraries in the town, the board said in a news release.
With the community support she already has, the increased usage of Meriden Library during her tenure, her technological capabilities and her work “establishing our online catalog,” King was “absolutely the best candidate,” Liston said.
In a response to an email from the Valley News, King said she “is excited to work with the trustees to develop the new structure that will have the two village libraries working together as a system for the town of Plainfield.”
King, who lives in Etna, is also a trustee of the Howe Library Corp.
At Philip Read Memorial Library, she will succeed former director Nancy Norwalk.
The combined directorship follows a similar change in board governance. The two libraries previously had separate boards, but in 2010 the town voted to create a single board.
The first library in the village of Meriden was incorporated in 1797, according to the town website. In Plainfield village, the first library was established in 1805.
Currently, both are funded by a combination of town appropriations, trust funds, fundraising and gifts.
— Aimee Caruso