Tag Archives: director

Meet Fayette County Public Library’s new director, Betsy Slavens

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Recently, Southeast Regional Coordinator Courtney Allison visited the Fayette County Public Library to chat with new director, Betsy Slavens. Betsy was the director at the Benton County Public Library before heading to Fayette County.

Are you from the area? If not, where are you from originally?
No. I am originally from Greenwood, Ind.

What inspired you to work in libraries?
I have always been a reader. When I was a child, my mom and dad would take me to two different library systems on alternating days because I could never get enough books. Even now, I always carry at least one book with me because I never know when I might get a spare minute. Working in a library seemed like a solid life choice.

What is your favorite thing about working for your library?
I love being the boss! No really. I really enjoy helping the staff meet their potential, advocating for the library in the community and helping library users discover something new and wonderful within our walls. I guess that’s actually three favorite things.

What is your favorite book?
That’s a hard question. So, I’m going to go with my top five desert island picks. I’d say, “Anne of Green Gables,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” by Marisha Pessl, “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole and “Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932” by Francine Prose.

If you could have dinner with any three famous people in recorded history, who would they be and why?
Mr. Rogers because he was gentle, kind and thoughtful. I’m not sure what kind of dinner we’d have, but he was a vegetarian and I would like to respect that. I’d like to dish with Ernest Hemingway about cats over a couple of cocktails. Isn’t it fun to think of Ernest Hemingway going gaga over kitties? Jane Austen would be a hoot, too. We could go to the mall food court and people watch; it’d be a blast. I hope these are all individual dinner dates and not one big party.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?
Besides reading, I enjoy going to food and beer festivals and taking road trips with my friends, travelling throughout Europe with my husband, watching British TV shows with my old man cat sitting on my lap, sewing, knitting, daydreaming and napping.

Welcome, Betsy!

This blog post was written by Courtney Allison, southeast regional coordinator, Indiana State Library. For more information, email Courtney at callison@library.in.gov.

Meet Susan Knight, new director at the Franklin County Public Library District

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I recently sat down with Franklin County Public Library District’s new director, Susan Knight. Susan’s first day in the library was Jan, 2, 2017. She comes from a school background, spending the last 12 years as a media specialist in the Greensburg school system.

Susan Knight, new director at the Franklin County Public Library District

The library has some exciting plans on the horizon. They break ground for an expansion in April that will double the size of the building. The project is expected to take about a year, will expand their heavily used genealogy section and create a meeting space for the community.

The library as an extensive collection of art, which is displayed around the building

When I visited, I just missed National Pie Day. This is an annual event celebrated at the library with many pie themed activities for all ages and pie is served when the library opens until all the pie runs out. This year they served 688 pieces of pie!

The library has a die-cut machine available to the public

I had a few questions for Susan:

What is your favorite thing about working in libraries?
Meeting people and serving the community.

What’s one thing coming up at your library that you’re really excited about?
I was looking forward to Pie Day, which just happened. Also, the library expansion. That’s a big one.

What are you currently reading?
Board minute packets, the Indiana State Library website and the new director packet.

To learn more about the Franklin County Public Library District, you can visit their website here.

This blog post is by Courtney Allison, professional development librarian. For more information, contact the Professional Development Office at (317) 232-3697 or email statewideservices@library.in.gov