Ortonville- The Brandon Township Library has a new library director.
After nearly six months as interim library director, Paula Gauthier was given the position permanently at the Aug. 31 library board meeting. The vote to hire Gauthier was unanimous following a search that yielded several candidates, four of which the board interviewed.
‘We had to make an honest effort to find the best person to be the right fit,? said Margaret Lee, board president. ‘She will be the best manager of our money, staff and facilities and our strategic plan, which we feel is a good one… We’re happy and the staff is happy and I think everyone’s best interests have been served by that decision.?
Gauthier, 55, is pleased.
‘I’m excited the process is over and the board had the confidence in me to select me as director,? she said.
Gauthier received a master’s degree in library science from the University of Michigan in 1986 and has worked at the Brandon Township Library as Adult Services Department Head since November 2001. In January 2005, she took on the additional role of assistant library director. Gauthier was named interim director following the termination of JoAnn Gavey on March 23. The former library director was fired after an investigation into complaints she harassed employees and mishandled policies and finances.
Lee says Gauthier has helped to ‘calm the waters? in terms of staff feelings and morale, and has also jumped right in to working on the budget.
‘We’re holding our own,? says Lee. ‘We’re similar to the township in funds being rolled back by the Headlee Amendment, and dealing with inflation and health benefits taking a bigger chunk. (Gauthier) has doen a marvelous job of looking at our strategic plans and fitting it into the budget and making it work.?
Gauthier worked with staff to complete in May the library’s strategic plan for 2007-2009. The plan states several goals the library wants to meet and how staff plan to achieve those goals. Objectives include basic literacy, in which the library provides an environment that supports activities that allow children and adults to learn basic literacy skills; formal learning support/lifelong learning, in which the library will provide opportunities, resources and services to help people with formal education and self-directed personal growth, and a collection of current topics and titles that reflect the popular reading and entertainment needs of the community. Part of the latter objective includes adding more bestsellers and making more copies available for library patrons, as well as building more popular collections such as dvds and adult paperbacks.
‘We’re developing more services and enhancing more services for members of the community,? said Gauthier. ‘One of our focuses is to work more closely with school administrators and teachers and to become a good partner in formal education support for students in the Brandon School District.?
Gauthier, who is married and has two sons, sees the library going more rapidly in a cooperative spirit with Brandon Schools and is excited about changes at the library and the strategic plan.