Staff photo / Bob Coupland Kim Garrett, the new executive director / fiscal officer for the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, has already been planning for 2026 with a three-year strategic plan and community outreach in promoting the library’s six locations, including at the Eastwood Mall and the Bookmobile. Garrett served as deputy director at the library for the past five years and previously worked as the director at the Kinsman Free Library and was the children’s library manager at the McKinley Memorial Library in Niles.

WARREN — She has been a familiar face at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library for the past few years and now Kim Garrett is the new executive director / fiscal officer.

Garrett said she looks forward to the duties as director of the library staff. Those duties include overseeing a staff of 125 at six locations, including at the Eastwood Mall in Niles and the bookmobile.

“I look forward to this. There is a lot happening here at the library. I am blessed with a very energetic staff to work with,” she said.

Garrett started five years ago at the library as the deputy director having previously served six years as director at the Kinsman Library and before that six years at the McKinley Memorial Library in Niles where she worked as a librarian in the children’s department.

“I have worked at libraries in Trumbull County my entire career starting in 2010. When the opportunity came up for deputy director here, I was excited to apply. I had known Jim (Wilkins) from when we worked together on the Northeast Ohio Regional Library Systems Board of Trustees. Our mentor-mentee relationship of working together for libraries started there,” she said.

Garrett said when she started at the WTCPL, she had aspirations of one day becoming the executive director when the time was right, noting she was familiar with much of the duties from her previous experience.

“Jim let me work alongside him to learn the responsibilities of a fiscal officer for a library. This included creating a budget and making budgetary decisions, and appropriating funds,” Garrett said.

When she learned Wilkins was nearing retirement, Garrett went back to college and worked on an accounting certificate to help her with library fiscal responsibilities.

CAREER ASPIRATIONS

Garrett said when she was younger she always wanted to be a librarian and worked as a library aide in sixth grade.

“I remember using that date stamp you put in the back of a book for when the person needed to return it. I knew then I wanted to work in a library. I was always at the library. I loved reading books. My mom would take me there at least once a week,” Garrett said.

When she was at Youngstown State University, she majored in professional writing and editing and thought about being a book editor.

“As time progresses, your ideas of what you want out of life change. I had just graduated from college and was working part-time at The Vindicator,” she said.

Garrett said she also met her future husband, George, who graduated from YSU and was a teacher.

“We got married and I soon began going to library school. I completed my library degree and was fortunate that the Niles library position came open. The manager of that department left and I slid into that position so I became the children’s library manager,” Garrett said.

She and her husband had a son and daughter during that time.

“When I got into management, I really saw that this is what I wanted to do. I loved doing storytime with the children, children’s programming and working with people. I had a vision of what libraries could be as they were transforming with the times and with technology. I made the decision that library administration was really where my dream was,” Garrett said.

She said she went into administration at the Kinsman Free Library to gain experience in that area of the field.

“I always liked the one-on-one I had with the public,” she said.

2026 PLANS

Garrett said the library has just completed the new three-year library strategic plan, which was implemented Jan. 1.

“Our new plan is built from feedback from the staff, the patrons and the community. The plan is our guiding force of where we should be focusing and moving. We received a lot of input,” she said.

She said she wants the library “to be visible, welcoming, innovative and financially sustainable. Those our my main driving goals.”

Garrett said the Eastwood Mall library location that opened last year has done very well and has filled a need that was missing.

“That location has really helped put the library out there. We have met so many families of young children who have never visited a library before. We are able to meet and introduce them to all our other library locations and what we have to offer,” she said.

Garrett said she enjoys being a librarian because she has always liked helping people.

“I have a philanthropist’s heart. The work we do here at the library is so valuable and different. We are the great equalizer. We do a little of everything here. This is a place where everyone is welcome and there is no expectation of spending any money. We just want people to explore, to learn and to grow while they are here,” Garrett said.

She said she believes libraries are more relevant now than they have ever been.

“We have a responsibility as information specialists. The heart of what librarians do is provide access to information and that information exists in a wide variety of formats. That includes books, which are still very popular, and technology in navigating the online world. The staff has been able to adapt to changes and help educate the public both responsibly and knowledgeably. We have a really important job in the world and are always on the forefront of these cutting edge technologies by learning them before others so that we can help educate them,” Garrett said.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

She said she will continue with the library’s community connections and building connections to not duplicate services.

“I want the public to be aware of all the different services we have at the library. I have always been big on community outreach,” she said.

Garrett said the library takes part in community events to meet the public and introduce them to services that the library offers.

She said with funding challenges facing libraries, she and many others are working with the Ohio Library Council.

“Financial stewardship is something close to my heart. It is important to educate the public about library funding and advocating for continued support. I want to make careful, data informed decisions about how we are spending our money,” Garrett said.

She said other resources, such as grants, can also be looked at to help libraries.

“I want people to know that the library belongs to the community. We are here to listen, to serve and to grow alongside our residents. We welcome everyone to help shape our future,” Garrett said.