Earlier this year, the C.H. Booth Library's Board of Trustees announced that after months of searching it had selected Burlington resident Douglas Lord to become the library's new director.The Newtown Bee, said when the Board of Trustees were looking for a director it sought someone with extensive library experience, a master's degree in Library Science, and someone with experience at a director level.

The position became available last July when former library director Karen Tatarka returned to her director position at the Weston Public Library, causing C.H. Booth Library Assistant Director Beryl Harrison to step in as interim director.

Mr Lord most recently worked as the Plainville Public Library Director before resigning in November 2017. He said he was thrilled to hear the news that he had been chosen to be director of the C.H. Booth Library.

"This is a very special community at a very special library with a very special staff, and I knew all of that going in," he said.

After meeting with the library's staff in January and getting a late start from his original effective date of January 16 due to completing preemployment processes, according to Board of Trustees President Bob Geckle, Mr Lord officially started his position as director on February 1.

The library celebrated his hiring with a welcome party on February 25 where the community was invited to meet Mr Lord.

"So many people seemed to come out specifically for that event, and I felt very honored," he said. "Every single one of them explained how special the library is to them."

Mr Lord's wife Kristin Champagne and daughter Chase Champagne accompanied him at the gathering. During their visit he was eager to give them a tour of the building and tell them about the rich history of the library.

Mr Geckle, who attended Mr Lord's interview with

"Douglas brought more than that to us," Mr Geckle said. "He had extensive experience with the Connecticut State Library and... he has a very strong technology background, which was important for us.

"From an interpersonal skills point-of-view and personality, he has [boundless] energy and that was very evident when we went through the interview process. Those were some of the factors that led to Douglas being our ultimate choice of director."

Mr Lord received his bachelor's degree in English literature at the University of Connecticut and said that like many graduates fresh out of college he was originally unsure of what direction to take with his schooling.

"I worked at Aetna Life and Casualty as a very low-level paralegal for a while," he said.

During that time, someone asked him if he ever considered librarianship, which sparked his decision to receive his master's degree in library sciences at Southern Connecticut State University.

He said it was money well spent and it has allowed him to have "a wonderful career" where he can help people.

"When I get up in the morning, I'm not really focused on how many DVDs I can circulate today or something like that. I'm more concerned with how I can help the health of the community or individuals in the community and put books into the hands of children, not even necessarily library books, to create a literate environment," Mr Lord said.

Prior to accepting his position as director of the C.H. Booth Library, Mr Lord got his start at the Hartford Public Library. He worked there for five years and was part of many projects, one of which was implementing a new integrated library system.

"It was a great experience and very fast-paced environment," he said. "I got a really good grounding in the profession there."

Working there sparked his interest in specialized library services, and he later worked at the Connecticut State Library as a grant administrator.

"That position was great. I was there for about 12 years, and it allowed me to see a lot of the best practices that all the libraries in the state were involved with," Mr Lord said. "After being a state librarian, I recommitted myself to public service... so I went to the New Britain Public Library for a couple years as a department head and went to the Plainville Public Library as the library director."

When the library director opportunity became available at the C.H. Booth Library last year, he remembered how Newtown exemplified a lot of those best practices he saw while working at the state level.

Newtown is sophisticated, Mr Lord said, in that the people value what they can get out of a community, but also what they can put into it.

Looking forward, Mr Geckle explained that Mr Lord is getting familiar with the library's Strategic Plan and that they are looking to start larger projects now that the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) funding was released from the Board of Selectmen earlier this month.

As director, Mr Lord will be overseeing the upcoming projects that the CIP funding will enable, like doing building repairs and upgrades. No matter what changes are implemented in the future, Mr Lord said he wants to have the library continue to be an engaging place to learn.

"We are open 61 hours a week and on Sundays, which is pretty rare," Mr Lord said. "We have such a robust digital library, you don't even have to come in and you can still use a lot of different kinds of resources."