For the second time in less than a year the Yorkton Public Library has a new head librarian.
Helen McCutcheon has taken over the position, and while only in the city a couple of weeks said she is liking both the facility and the city.
"It's a very pretty library. The staff are amazing. It seems like a very friendly community," said McCutcheon who has spent most of her adult life in the Kitchener/Waterloo area of Ontario.
While trained as a librarian McCutcheon has spent her career working primarily in associated fields including a software company with a program for libraries, and in management with a book distribution firm, most recently in Winnipeg.
McCutcheon said she was actively looking for a librarian position, and thought Yorkton was a good fit.
"I've always wanted to work in a library. Over the years I'd been applying for library jobs," she said, adding her lack of practical experience was a barrier.
McCutcheon called Yorkton "a perfect sized library" to start her librarian career, adding in a larger facility she would be confined solely to management. "Here I'm doing a little bit of everything a little bit of reference, a little bit of circ(ulation)."
First impressions of the Yorkton library for McCutcheon is that the facility is a busy one.
"There's still a lot of people coming in for print material," she said, adding the library is now also popular for DVDs since there are no primary rental outlets in Yorkton.
Programming such as story time for young children also attract many, said McCutcheon, often upwards of 30.
So what does McCutcheon think the role of a library is?
"My idea of what a library should be is a community living room," she said, adding her first focus will be to get a feel for the city and determine how best to bring in those people not already using the facility.
But McCutcheon isn't about to force ideas on the system either, although she said in working with, and visiting other libraries she has "a sense of things that are working and what's not."
But before instituting change McCutcheon said she'll seek a better understanding of the local situation.
"I have to get a sense of how all the pieces interact," she said.
And then changes and new programming might occur.
"I think that will come on the future as I interact more with staff, with the community and the Board," she said.
McCutcheon replaces Ben Gosling who joined the library last spring, then resigned earlier this year.
