Katie Newell picked up everything and moved across the country to start a new chapter in her life as the new Director of Ledding Library on Jan. 4th.
For the past seven years, Newell was the Director of the New Castle Public Library in New Castle, Delaware. During her tenure she led a $6.5 million renovation and expansion project that took the library from 8,000 sq. ft. to 22,000 sq. ft. She hopes to lead a similar successful expansion effort in Milwaukie.
Newell said she was drawn to the Ledding Library because of its standing in the community.
“The City seems so supportive of the Library,” Newell said. “It seems very important to the City, and I need that, because to me, libraries are so important.”
City Manager Bill Monahan said it was Newell’s unique blend of experience that made her the ideal candidate for the Director’s position.
“We were very pleased to have a strong pool of qualified applicants to select from,” Monahan said. “Katie impressed us because she not only has experience as a library professional in both academic and public libraries, but she has recent experience as a director of a library that expanded the size of its structure. Katie led her staff in delivery of library services while also leading the library expansion effort from the earliest stages through fundraising, design, development, and move in. We think she has all the tools to lead our excellent staff as they continue excellent service delivery as our library evolves over the coming years.”
