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In the rapidly changing world of print and electronic media, libraries are struggling to find their place. Leading the Weston Public Library fully into the 21st century will be among the main tasks facing its new director, Karen Tatarka. "I think our biggest challenge is communicating with the community, and finding out what they want," she said.
Tatarka, who began her duties in town two weeks ago, didn't have to move far to do so. She previously worked at the Wilton Library. "I know Fairfield County," she says.
What she needs to know now is what Weston wants in its library. "We plan to do a lot of outreach to the community to find that out," she says. To that end, she plans to create a social media presence and a policy to govern that.
With more and more readers moving from hard-copy printed books and magazines to electronic versions of the same, Tatarka says the library has to look at moving in that direction as well. "There are issues of digital rights and compatibility," she says. "An e-book that can be read on a Kindle, for example, may not work on an iPad. We have to determine what format is the most useful."
Tatarka has been a librarian for 14 years and has seen many technological changes in just the past few years. She earned her master's degree in library science from Southern Connecticut State University in 2007 and says feels ready and able to deal with the challenges a changing library will face in the coming years.
An open house will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 2, for the public to meet Tatarka. Refreshments will be served in the community room.
What would you like to see at the Weston Public Library?
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