The Switzerland County Public Library has a new director.
Emily Fox assumed her duties as the new Director of Libraries on June 18th; and although she is not a resident of Switzerland County, she certainly has a strong background of know about the community and its residents.
“I was raised in both Rising Sun and Madison,” Fox said. “I lived in Rising Sun before we moved to Madison, and I’ve lived in the same house ever since. I’ve always lived around Switzerland County. I live just a half mile over the county line in Jefferson County. From where I live, it’s closer to get here than it is to get to Madison.”
Fox graduated from Madison Consolidated High School in 2011, and earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Indiana State University in 2015. She then earned her master’s degree in library science from the University of Kentucky in 2017.
From there, Fox interned at the Jefferson County Public Library in Madison; and in 2017 she moved to the Boone County Public Library in Union, Kentucky, where she was the youth services associate. She remained at that position until assuming the reigns of the library here.
So what attracts Fox to libraries?
“I love everything about libraries,” she smiles. “I just think that they’re great information centers. They’re a place that everybody can come to and there’s something for everybody. We don’t just do books and movies, we’re a place where somebody can to their resume and apply for a job; or they can learn about different benefits that the county has that they may not know otherwise. There’s a lot of things to help children with their development. I just think that they’re great because they’re great centers for the community.”
Fox said that everyone at the library and around the community have been great as she settles into her new job.
“One of the things I like about Vevay is that it’s a lot more laid back than the other places that I’ve been,” she said. “Everybody knows everybody. Every day I go out to get the mail, and I always see somebody that I know. From being in the county, I see people from church, I see people who come in here. It’s really great that everybody knows somebody and everybody knows somebody who can help them with a problem. Everybody’s willing to help.”
As for her vision for the Switzerland County Library moving forward, Fox says that she’s already been working on new ideas as she understands the strengths that are already here.
“I really want to work on more outreach,” Fox said. “Because Switzerland County is very rural, and I know that a lot of people may not be able to make it to Vevay or can’t make it because they don’t have transportation. So I want to work more on getting out into the community and just kind of develop what we’ve got going on here and just flesh out some of the things. See where the holes are and see what we can do to fill those.”
The Switzerland County Public Library has approximately 1,500 residents who have access to the library — so increasing that number is also something that Fox wants to work on increasing.”
Although she has background in children’s services, Fox knows that a successful library programming must be of interest to patrons of all ages, and she said that she feels very comfortable working with older students and adults.
“You need to have a good children’s services program at a library, because that’s how you get them hooked in for life,” Fox said.