Karen King hired as new director of Gouverneur Public Library

by Rachel Hunter

The Gouverneur Public Library has a new director.

The Gouverneur Public Library hired Karen King, a native of Port Henry, NY and resident of the Village of Gouverneur, as the director of the Gouverneur Public Library, 60 Church St., Gouverneur. King studied at SUNY Potsdam, and anticipates receiving the Bachelor of Arts degree in History (with concentrations in Classical Studies and Museum Studies) with the close of the Fall 2023 semester. For the past couple months, King gained valuable experience while interning in Washington, D.C. at Studio Gallery and the Office for Public Records and Archives.

King heard about the opening at the Gouverneur Public Library upon leaving for Washington, D.C. “It was like it fell out of the sky,” King said. “I was like, “Listen, I don’t even know what you are hiring for, but I’ll be back in New York in a couple months. If you are still looking for someone, please let me know. Then around November I knew I was coming back here, but I didn’t know where I would be. They emailed me and said, “Hey, we are actually looking for a director. Are you interested?” I was like, “Sure, absolutely I would be interested.”

Gouverneur Public Library Director Karen has always wanted to do library work. “I worked and volunteered at the Sherman Free Library in Port Henry for a long time… I really liked my local librarian. One day I was looking for a specific book, and they didn’t have it. The librarian said, “Why don’t you go to the out-of-circulation box and take one home?” I took “Every Thing On It,” by Shel Silverstein. And I was like, “This is a place for me.” And I knew that I wanted to do this kind of work.”

When asked by the Gouverneur Tribune Press, King told of her vision for the Gouverneur Public Library as follows: “I want this to be a community place… I want it to be a place where people are comfortable, and know that they have that place – and that they know that this is a community that cares.”

King has already started to reach out and make connections in the Gouverneur, ready to serve the North Country community as the director of the Gouverneur Public Library.

The Gouverneur Public Library, 60 Church St., Gouverneur, will continue to be open Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and on Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. as the library continues to allocate their resources to meet the needs of the community.

Faithful readers of the Gouverneur Tribune Press are encouraged to remember the power of possessing a North Country Library System (NCLS) library card, which gives patrons access to many resources. The local library has more than just book. The Gouverneur Public Library also features the ever-popular Discovery Backpacks, musical instruments, fishing poles and tackle boxes, and snowshoes available for loan. The NCLS card also allows patrons to select books from any of the 65 public libraries in Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, and St. Lawrence counties. Plus, library card holders have access to many online resources, such as ancestry research, music lessons, career assistance, movies and TV streaming, e-book, e-audio, legal document creation, test preparation, online classes, financial research, etc. To get a library card, visit the Gouverneur Public Library at 60 Church St., Gouverneur. For more information, call 315-287-0191. Watch upcoming editions of the Gouverneur Tribune Press and the Gouverneur Public Library Facebook page for the announcement of upcoming programs and activities.

The North Country community is invited to stop in and meet Gouverneur Public Library Director Karen King, and take advantage of all the resources that the Gouverneur Public Library has to offer during the library’s open hours of operation, Mondays to Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and on Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library was closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day this past Monday. Other holiday closures in 2024 include the following: President’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day, Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday) and Christmas Eve and Day. For more info about the Gouverneur Public Library, visit www.gouverneurlibrary.org or call 315-287-0191.