New director selected for library

A decision has finally been made. The Douglas County Library has a new director.

Karen Simmons was hired as the director by the Douglas County commissioners at the January 25 regular board meeting.

Simmons is no stranger to the Douglas County Library. Prior to taking over as the interim director in October of 2009 when Trish Conroy retired, Simmons worked as the assistant library director, as well as the children’s librarian – a combined service of more than 20 years.

Commissioner Jerry Johnson, who serves on the library board, asked for approval to hire Simmons. He noted that the board interviewed applicants two or three times, but that nobody fit the bill.

“She [Karen] was already doing a much better job than the people we interviewed,” said Johnson.

Commissioner Bev Bales agreed, noting that Simmons was “really qualified.”

The commissioners voted unanimously to hire Simmons as the Douglas County Library director.

ABOUT THE LIBRARY

The Douglas County Library, located at 720 Fillmore Street in downtown Alexandria, is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m ., Friday from 10 a.m . to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The library board is made up of seven members appointed by the Douglas County Commissioners for terms of one, two and three years. The board meets the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the library.

Currently, there are more than 70,000 items available for check out at the library, including video cassettes, newspapers, audio cassettes, periodicals, book/cassette sets, compact discs, large print materials, computer software, paperbacks, adult books, art prints and children’s books.

In addition, the library has Internet stations available for public use. Times can be reserved by calling the library or stopping in.

To contact the library, either call (320) 762-3014 or send an email to library@douglascounty.lib.mn.us.

For more information, visit the Douglas County Library’s website at www.douglascountylibrary.org.

Tags: local news, douglas county, news, library, simmons