David Eckert’s journey to Kewanee began in a small town near Philadelphia. Along the way he made stops in the Dominican Republic, Kent State University, Alabama, New Jersey and Arkansas.
He went from there to Waterloo, Iowa, where he was working when he accepted the job as director of the Kewanee Public Library. He started on Nov. 1.
Eckert, who grew up in rural Pennsylvania, has a college degree in music. He said this suited him well for the job of music reference librarian at the Alabama school.
He was a school librarian in the Dominican Republic where, unlike in most of the United States, one doesn’t need an education degree to be a librarian in a school.
He was assistant director, and then director, of the library in Jonesboro, Ark. before moving to Iowa. His children and grandchildren still live in Arkansas, he said.
This diversity of experience has been beneficial, Eckert said.
“I feel lucky that I’ve been all the different kinds of librarian.” he said.
At this point, Eckert said, he hasn’t formed any long-range plans for the Kewanee library. He did say, though, that he hopes to partner with other community organizations to “get the word out” about the library.
He also said he’s always ready to take suggestions from patrons about books they’d like to read, or programs and services they’re interested in.
In Kewanee, Eckert manages a staff of 20 people, who offer services ranging from circulation of library materials to programs for people ranging from preschoolers to the elderly.
In fact, he said, “We’re already gearing up for next year’s Summer Reading Program.
Eckert said he hopes Kewanee will be the last stop on his long career journey.
He and his wife found a house to buy in Toulon, and “I think that we’ll really like it here,” he said.
