Library Director to Leave Position

The Director of the Kinderhook Memorial Library, Julie Hamrah Johnson, has resigned her position, effective February 20, 2012. She has been with the library for eleven years, the last eight as its Director.

Johnson has been doing freelance project management, information architecture and digital advertising for the past few years, and indicated she will be making it her full-time occupation. She will also remain in the community.

In accepting Johnson's resignation, Library Board President Gary Spielmann said, "Julie Johnson has been an outstanding leader of our library, moving us into the digital age and helping us provide a wide range of services and programs to a diverse audience of all ages. What is more, she has recruited and trained a strong cadre of library staff and volunteers, who will carry on after she has gone. Julie has also been instrumental in the development of a vibrant Friends Group, which provides both funds and services on behalf of the library."

A search committee for Johnson's replacement has been formed, comprised of library trustees, Friends of the Library, library staff and volunteers, and the community at large. The Executive Director of the Mid Hudson Library System in Poughkeepsie, Michael Nyerges, has been retained as a search consultant.

Spielmann noted that Johnson has run the second busiest public library in Columbia County, in essentially the same building as was constructed in 1933. As Johnson leaves, the library is in the midst of renovating its children's area, and replacing much of its furniture and carpet. "Julie has also helped lay the foundation for future physical expansion of the library building, which is now in the planning stage with the architectural firm, BRMA," he said.

Spielmann noted, "thanks to Julie's efforts, the number of library cardholders is up more than 30% in the past five years; total programs have jumped 43% to 344, and attendance at programs was 3,686 last year, a 30% increase from 2006. Children and young adult programs are up sharply, and visits to the library website have nearly doubled since 2009. The annual Battle of the Books and Summer Reading programs have been hugely successful.

"Julie was the inspiration for the wildly successful OKtoberfest that provided both great food and entertainment during the harvest season, and raised nearly $5,000 toward the new Children's room project. It's now an annual event that members of the community look forward to.

"Julie's professionalism and hard work are widely recognized by the trustees, Friends, partrons, and the public at large, as well as by her fellow library directors. She has worked tirelessly with other cultural and historic institutions in Kinderhook and Stuyvesant to engage the public and keep the public informed through the quarterly library newsletter (Book Report), and the library website and blogs.

"All in all," Spielmann concluded, "Julie Hamrah Johnson has helped transform our historic little library into a major hub of Kinderhook village and the two towns we serve. It has become the "living room" for quiet reading, thoughtful discussion, informative and entertaining programs and speakers, wireless Internet access, free movies and the promotion of literacy. We are forever in her debt and we look forward to her remaining a library patron--along with her children--for years to come."

Kinderhook Memorial Library is a "free association" library, chartered by the Board of Regents, and largely supported by the taxpayers of Kinderhook and Stuyvesant. It is governed by a twelve member Board of Trustees, who serve three-year terms.