Burlington’s new library director starts next month
Email | Print Stephanie Kosonen | The Argus
February 22, 2008 - 02:00 PM

Stephanie Kosonen

Maggie Buckholz would like to see the Burlington Public Library become the heart of the community.

As the new director of the library, Buckholz looks forward to spreading the word about the library’s offerings and the value of a community library.

Former director Christine Perkins resigned last month to take an assistant library director position in Bellingham.

Buckholz comes from the Marysville arm of the 21-branch Sno-Isle Library System, a larger-scale organization than she’ll direct here, beginning March 10. Sno-Isle libraries offer 1 1/2 million volumes to their users in Snohomish and Island counties.

Burlington, as a stand-alone library, contains 45,662 items in its collection, with plans to expand into its new, 22,000-square-foot building.

The goals of library management are still the same, Buckholz said: Ensure the library’s services and collections are relevant to its users, educate the public about how best to use the library and welcome new technology while keeping in mind the value of the printed book.

The difference in scale between this and her previous post doesn’t change any of those objectives, Buckholz said. She looks forward to the challenge of doing it all under a more limited budget and with a smaller staff.

“It will be much more hands on for me, in all of those roles,” she said.

Buckholz said she looks forward to spending more time in the community that she and her husband of 25 years, Mike Buckholz, already love and know well.

Mike is the girls’ basketball coach at Burlington-Edison High School, and Maggie can be found at every game recording statistics for the players at the announcer’s table.

She said she wasn’t on a job search. Rather, she learned of the Burlington opening while looking for photos of library buildings.

“It just triggered for me,” Buckholz said of her response to the position announcement. “I was not looking to leave Sno-Isle, but the one thing that would draw me would be this particular position.”

With early inclinations toward becoming an English teacher, Buckholz studied English literature at Western Washington University. The bookworm soon found it wasn’t the teaching side of the subject, but rather the material she loved. She began looking at alternative careers in the field, perking her interest in becoming a librarian.

She received her Masters of Library Science from the University of Washington in 1982. Buckholz worked in the university’s library during her schooling, converting card catalogues to a machine-readable format.

After that she and Mike moved to Pullman, where she worked in the Washington State University library for two years in technical services.

Buckholz said that is where she first developed an interest in teaching what she calls information literacy — the ability to use resources effectively for research.

After that job, she and Mike moved back to the west side of the state, to Skykomish. There she worked part time in a public school library for 10 years while the couple raised two daughters.

Buckholz said her next job involved a lot of one-on-one discussions about the value of technology in libraries. The UW recruited her back to continue converting card catalogues. She trained new staff to use the automated system, and spent a lot of time convincing educators that it was a good move.

“The professors were reluctant to give up their precious card catalogues because they knew how to use them,” she said. “Now we can’t live without it. No one would ever want to go back to that system.”

Buckholz embraces technology in the libraries and is excited to promote the Burlington library’s language lab.

Libraries bridge the gap between people who have computers at home and those who don’t, she said, particularly in job searches. A healthy, well-used library benefits businesses, increases home values and contributes to a more educated community, she added.

Buckholz said she’s on a mission to spread the word about the valuable return-on-investment a library can provide.

She cited a recent study at the University of Indiana business school, which found for every tax dollar spent on a library, $2.38 is returned to the community.

Last week, she observed the Burlington library has a large number of teenage visitors.

She would like to bring the concept of a Teen Advisory Group at the Marysville library to her new workplace.

“Teens can be incredibly creative and contribute a lot to programming and resources,” she said. “They’re very sharing with their energies and their time, so it’s important to provide a place for them to continue to volunteer.”

She’s also looking forward to “less road time, more face time,” she said — from her Camano Island home, the Burlington commute will be about 15 minutes quicker.

Buckholz said her new coworkers are friendly and welcoming, and she’s building a good rapport with the rest of the city staff as well.

She said she most looks forward to making connections within the community, working with service groups and others to build upon the library’s programs and services.

“I’m just jazzed, really.”


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