Pierce County libraries get a new leader. She is interested in waiving late fees
.jpg "The Pierce County Library System’s Board of Trustees selected Gretchen Caserotti to serve as its new executive director.")
The Pierce County Library System has named a new executive director to lead its 20 libraries.
Gretchen Caserotti was selected by the Board of Trustees to oversee the library system that stretches across 15 cities and the unincorporated county. Caserotti told The News Tribune she wants to discuss waiving late fees, expanding digital service and listening to community needs.
“The Pierce County Library’s remarkable reputation drew a strong pool of candidates. Gretchen’s impressive business acumen, leadership success and excellent community building skills made her our top choice,” said chair of the Board of Trustees Jamilyn Penn.
She will replace Georgia Lomax, who announced her retirement last year. Lomax will retire next month, and Caserotti will step into the role on May 16. She will serve as the fifth executive director of the 76-year-old system, overseeing a $43 million budget and more than 400 employees.
She told The News Tribune she prioritizes listening to the community and removing barriers to access.
Caserotti has been the library director in Meridian, Idaho since 2013 after starting her career as a children’s librarian at the New York Public Library. She received a master’s in library science at Pratt Institute in New York.
The Library Journal magazine named her a Mover & Shaker in 2010. The American Library Association awarded Caserotti the Fellowship for the Center of the Future of Libraries in 2018. The Idaho Business Review named her one of the Women of the Year the following year.
“I am thrilled to join the Pierce County Library and look forward to meeting the residents served by the amazing library system,” Caserotti said in a statement. “Building community is at the center of my work. I’m an advocate for taking library services and resources to where people need them most.”
The Pierce County Library System is on the cusp of some big changes.
The Board of Trustees is considering whether to continue to waive late fees, a decision made during the coronavirus pandemic. Pierce County Library System is reviewing potential impacts to revenue after a unanimous board vote to research removing late fees in February. Caserotti is supportive, saying her old library was the first in Idaho to eliminate late fees. She said more materials were returned and the library revenue was not impacted.
Caserotti is excited about the library system’s plan to seek public input on the future of library buildings. She plans to tour the 20 libraries across Pierce County, including those described as dilapidated. The library system will have a community committee decide the fate of the Lakewood and Tillicum libraries, which have been described as “in critical condition.”
“I am glad that that is the approach the library has started: to build a solution for and with the community,” Caserotti told The News Tribune.
Pierce County Library System currently offers thousands of e-books, magazines, audiobooks and other digital media on its app Libby. Caserotti wants to grow awareness of the free app. She went door-to-door in Idaho, signing up residents for library cards and teaching them about online services.
“Most people didn’t even know,” she said. “We need to reduce barriers to access. Anyone can access it and that can make the library more convenient and accessible for everyone.”
