Bill Harmer, newly appointed director of the Chelsea Area District Library, took some time out to answer a few questions for us. Want to know what he was destined to be when he grew up (based on what his family did)? Curious as to what game he has in common with U.S. presidents? You’ll have to read to the end!
Q: What programs or accomplishments are you most proud of from your time here in Chelsea so far, and why?
A: The library receiving the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Library Journal’s Best Small Library in America Award was unquestionable our greatest accomplishment since I’ve been here. The way I have always explained it to people outside of our profession is that it is the equivalent of winning the Super Bowl, or World Series, or Academy Award for Best Motion Picture. It is like reaching the summit of Mount Everest; and nobody can ever take that away from us. We will always be able to carry around that calling card.
Q: What do you consider the library’s greatest asset, at this point?
A: Our staff, no question. There are too many people to signal out, but where would we be without our interim director Linda Ballard, who has managed to juggle the responsibilities of her own department as well as those of director and done so with the upmost professionalism; or Edith Burney, our Teen Librarian, who masterminded the first-ever comic book convention at a public library; or Peg Greisberger, our adult services librarian, who dreamed up the Comedy Showcase, a four-part series that brought to Chelsea the nation’s leading stand up comedians; or Beth Easterwood and Julie Doman and Deb McBride and the rest of the girls who stand on the front lines at the circulation desk providing the best customer service of any library east, west, north or south of the Mississippi.
I am stepping into the best possible situation. The staff has set the bar high and I don’t aim to disappoint any of them!
Q: What do you consider as its greatest challenge?
A: Because we’ve set the bar high, we must find a way to maintain or sustain the high expectations of the people we serve in the community. I think we do that by continuing to encourage our staff to be creative and innovative and by providing them with the support and the resources that they need to do their jobs. I want our library to continue to be a leader in the profession. I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.
Q: What change will be first on your list to implement when you switch positions?
A: One of the questions that I was asked during my interview was what my vision of the 21st century library would be. My response was that we already exemplify what the idea of the 21st century library is here in Chelsea. We didn’t win the Best Small Library in America Award by being the best 20th Century library in America. We already serve as a model to other public libraries across the nation because of the top-notch programming, services, and staffing that we provide.
What we need is some stability at the director position. I see my role as one of preserving and sustaining what we already have, and continuing to evolve and build upon that solid foundation.
Q: How does a library stay relevant to generations that consume most of their information in non-paper forms?
A: We’ve been dealing with questions of our relevancy for decades now. I remember pundits signaling the death of libraries after the advent of the Internet, and now look at us? Libraries are thriving despite predictions of their demise. Social networking has transformed libraries into crucial gathering places where people can meet to develop friendships, attend events, plus interact and network with others. Libraries have evolved as new technologies have been introduced to meet the needs of our users. We must look at change as opportunities and not threats. I don’t know about you, but I’m not betting against an institution that has been around since antiquity. We’re not going away any time soon.
Q: What five things may people (coworkers, in the community) not know about you?
A: 1. When I was 21, I had delusions about being Jack Kerouac and going on the road by myself. I made it as far as Roscommon before I turned back. It’s not much fun to travel by yourself.
2. I have been playing a game called Stratomatic baseball since I was a kid. It is the only game in the Baseball Hall of Fame and played by a wide variety of people from the athletes themselves to people like Spike Lee or Bob Costas and even presidents of the United States.
3. My father was a plumber, his father was a plumber, and his father’s father was a plumber. I became a librarian. Go figure.
4. I sang in a short-lived rock & roll band after high school called Deus Ex Machina. I have one surviving recording that nobody has heard in nearly two decades. I plan to keep it that way!
Tags: Chelsea, Chelsea District Library
