NORWICH – The four-month search for a suitable candidate to fill the empty director’s seat at Guernsey Memorial Library has come to an end, prompting the library into a new chapter.
The Guernsey Library Board of Trustees appointed Connie Dalrymple to the vacant director position last week. The library had been without a director since former director Sarah Wiggins tendered her resignation in July. Fulfilling her new role, Dalrymple will serve as an ambassador between Guernsey and the community, and oversee the everyday operations of the library as well as the 23 employees who keep it running.
This certainly isn’t Dalrymple’s first venture in the public library system. In recent years, she’s held several other library positions, including director at the Steven’s Memorial Library in Attica. More recently, she served as a middle school science teacher at the Oneonta City School District, utilizing her master’s degrees in both biology and library science. When the open position was announced at Guernsey, she said she jumped at the chance.
“It was a wonderful opportunity,” Dalrymple recalled. “This is such a wonderful area with great people and I’m pleased to be in such a good, comfortable place.”
The search for a director was an enduring task. As per New York State law, the library board sought qualified candidates through the state’s Civil Service Commission. Twelve applicants submitted their names for the position. As applications trickled in over the summer, Civil Service sorted out applicants who were eligible and handed down four suitable candidates to the Guernsey board to conduct interviews.
“We liked (Dalrymple’s) approachability and ease in dealing with people,” said Guernsey Board President Fred Gee. Like the other three viable candidates, a phone interview preceeded Dalrymple’s face-to-face meeting with the Guernsey board – a stage of the interview process that only Dalrymple and one other candidate reached.
Since the board’s main focus was on getting the right person for the job, Gee acknowledged Connie was “an excellent fit.” The board was deliberate in choosing her for the position, he added.
“She just seemed very genuine and knowledgeable. It’s exactly the type of skills and energy we’re looking for,” said Gee. “We think Connie is great for the position and we’re very encouraged to have her on staff.”
In the coming months, Dalrymple said she plans to settle into her new role at Guernsey and get to know some of the regular patrons. “I want to help revitalize the image of the library,” she explained, noting that she’s alway open to suggestions from community members. “I’m looking forward to building a relationship between the community and the library ... We’re here to serve the community. We want to know what they want, if we’re not giving it to them already.”
Said Gee, “We know when the community gets to know her that they will agree that she is the person to be running such an important resource in the community.”