Reconnecting Readers with the Library
Huntsville Public Library is wrapping up 2024 as a year of transitions and reconnecting with local citizens under the new leadership of Library Systems & Services. The helm was led by Lisa Lance, as Library Director, appointed by the new company.
Lance, a native of Pennsylvania who spent most of her life in northeast Tennessee, was first hired by LS&S in July of 2019.
“I spent four and a half years at a library in Arlington, Tennessee, and then transitioned here last year in January,” Lance said. “Huntsville is a great place, but it is my first rodeo in Texas.”
She has spent the past 12 months learning all things Texas, but knows she has only scratched the surface.
“LS&S is a good management organization that places the proper people in the right place to re-enhance what was already good here,” Lance said, smiling warmly. “We want to go back out into the community with outreach, bringing a need for an outreach coordinator.”
That is when Amanda Sturdivant was hired as the Outreach and Programs Coordinator, creating a dynamic duo.
“My goal is to revitalize the team so that they really understood what libraries was all about,” Lance said. “We cohesively work together, and we are a better resource for the community.”
In just three months, Summer Reading drew in 18,000 into the library. Additionally, Sturdivant has been able to get back out into the community, joining PTA groups and such. Another example is the homeschooling group that has begun to build, using the library as a resource that traditional schools already provide.
“It all starts with early literacy. If we don’t get them started at the beginning, they’re gonna lose it,” Lance said. “They may lose it over time or stop doing it and with summer reading we eliminate that summer slide, as it’s called.”
Lance admitted that she wasn’t a early reader. “I didn’t read a lot. I actually didn’t really get involved in a whole lot of reading until probably 2010,” Lance said. “And because I’m a late-in-life educator, I’m a first generation degree holder.”
Lance has also spent six years in Florida as a library director, noting there is literacy everywhere. She added that Sturdivant has a background in education.
Lance noted that through the summer months, the library offered over 90 programs each month. “it’s all about having something for all ages, you know, we have no agenda whatsoever, but our agenda is for everyone. Our doors are wide open, and we do try to cover from early literacy, all the way to continue in education and the enjoyment of reading on way to our adults.”
Lance said she and her husband, Rick, will also celebrate 31 years of marriage in January. “He has enjoyed Huntsville. He’s enjoying getting out and meeting people. He helped us during the summer reading,” Lance said proudly. “He went around and approached different types of groups talking about the library.”
She added that LS&S doesn’t have another library in its system that features a dedicated genealogy department.
“I’m excited that I get to be part of something for us as a team to actually learn about too,” Lance said. “I work closely with the department to get them more exposure and workshops going. We’re trying to get them some more space because we’re already outgrowing the space in the room. Toni (Herrington) is a great extension of that department, such a wealth of knowledge for this area. It is a definite added resource to our great library.”
In the next issue of The Huntsville Item, Sturdivant will take a look at 2024 and the future of the Huntsville Public Library, located at 1219 13th Street.
