The library as community hub. This is the goal of Maryann Ralph, right, the new director at Plainsboro Public Library.
“Public libraries are unique institutions. We are open a lot and welcome everybody and want to help you as much as we can,” Ralph said. “You’re in a community and you’re interacting with residents and providing services they can’t get anywhere else.”
Ralph came on board in mid-February, the third library director since Jinny Baeckler’s retirement in 2011. She replaces Carol Quick, who retired March 1 after more than 15 years at the library, the last two as director.
“The director works closely with the library board of trustees, who are ultimately responsible for the library,” Ralph said. “My focus is on the library strategic plan and implementing it.”
While she is still familiarizing herself with the strategic plan, she said, “We want to do more outreach, make sure we’re responding to what the community wants us to do.”
Ralph, who currently resides in Metuchen with her husband, an analyst for Church and Dwight, and their young son, grew up in Rockville Centre, Long Island. Her parents owned and operated a grocery.
Studying Latin and Italian at Franklin & Marshall College, Ralph also worked at the college’s science library. Though not a humanities hub, it was there that her supervisor, Chuck Lehman, encouraged her to become a librarian.
“I had a really great supervisor and director,” Ralph said. “While my Latin professors wanted me to be a Latin teacher, they suggested library school.”
After graduation she worked as a clerk at her hometown public library. Growing up her family had frequented the Rockville library, and Ralph enjoyed the friendly experience. As a staff member, Ralph discovered the behind-the-scenes work that makes a library hum.
“One thing you don’t see when you’re a patron, you don’t realize all the stuff going on in the back, getting all the materials ready, processing all the library cards, that process that makes it all seamless to the patron,” Ralph said. “That was very eye-opening.”
After a year at Rockville library, Ralph pursued her master’s at the library school at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. As a graduate student, she instructed undergraduates and also worked at the undergraduate library. With a year of public library experience sandwiched between stints working at college libraries, Ralph enjoyed the total openness public libraries offer.
“At a college library students and professors are your patrons. I would instruct a freshman class, they would come in, and I showed them the databases available for research. In some ways a freshman class is more homogenous,” Ralph said. “At public libraries, anyone can walk in. You have to be more open and welcoming, put people at ease. We are here to help you and welcome you. I think this is something that librarians are good at.”
In 1999 Ralph joined the West Orange public library as a young adult librarian. She later headed the circulation department and adult services programs. During that time the library introduced a digital collection of audiobooks.
Ralph also worked as at the Piscataway Public Library and served as the assistant director at East Brunswick public library before joining Plainsboro last month.
Having previously worked at three public libraries in New Jersey, Ralph marvels at Plainsboro library’s relatively new building, as well as the diverse programs that are offered.
“This beautiful building is really just lovely. It’s got so many great spaces for people to work independently or collaboratively,” Ralph said. “I think too — and this is a credit to the library staff — the library offers amazing programs for all ages. I’ve just been here and we had an amazing Chinese lunar celebration and we had an amazing program for African-American history month. It’s great coming into a library that does all these types of programs. The list keeps going.”
In addition, another unique aspect of Plainsboro library are the art galleries and exhibits, as well as the artist-in-residence.
Just 20 years ago, when Ralph was starting out as a librarian, she recalls the library’s primary function as a “ready reference” resource. With basic reference information now available online, librarians can help people sort and vet the vast amount of information. Librarians call this “digital literacy.”
“We really want to be a magnet in the township, a hub to learn new things and be part of what’s going on in the township,” Ralph said. “We’ll also be about resource sharing, that’s how we got started. If you’re an avid reader we want you to check out books. But we want to be a place to talk about ideas, get exposed to things. There are people of many cultures here, and we give a venue to share all these different cultures.”
