Henry Stedman Nourse, MBLC Commissioner from 1890-1903
Henry Stedman Nourse (of Lancaster, 1831-1903) was a Civil War veteran who was part of General Sherman’s March to the Sea in 1864. He was a professor of ancient languages at Phillips Exeter Academy and a state legislator for the town of Lancaster. He was not only an avid historian of Lancaster’s local history but was also a member of many of the Commonwealth’s historical societies. Mr. Nourse took this passion to his work with libraries, which he saw as a “treasure house of local history.”
1. How did Commissioner Nourse champion libraries in Massachusetts?
Nourse was instrumental in establishing public libraries in towns across the Commonwealth as a library commissioner. His tireless advocacy for free public libraries emphasized their importance in education and community engagement. Nourse’s efforts ensured rural areas gained access to library resources, significantly contributing to the Massachusetts’ robust public library system.
2. How did Henry Stedman Nourse’s work challenge the cultural, social and/or political norms of the late 1890s and early 1900s?
Henry Stedman Nourse challenged the prevailing cultural norms of the late 1800s and early 1900s by working to promote the democratization of knowledge. He advocated for public libraries to provide free access to books and learning for everyone, regardless of socioeconomic background or geography. This was a shift from elitist norms of the time, as he supported literacy and education as universal rights, laying the groundwork for intellectual freedom.
3. What personal experiences shaped Nourse’s tenure as a Commissioner?
After serving in the Civil War, Nourse returned to Lancaster to find that the town had established an institution that functioned both as a public library and a memorial for Civil War veterans, which inspired him to contribute significantly to the community. He served on the Lancaster School Committee and Library Board (now the Board of Trustees), in addition to becoming one of the founding Commissioners of the MBLC.
4. How does Nourse’s impact still resonate in today’s libraries, and what can we learn from his legacy?
Henry Stedman Nourse’s work as a library commissioner in Massachusetts still resonates today through his focus on accessibility and community engagement. Nourse even donated his sizable collection of historical artifacts to the Town Museum to ensure access for generations to come that you can visit today at Thayer Memorial Library. As a pioneer for public libraries, Nourse’s vision established libraries as inclusive community hubs. His legacy emphasizes the importance of equal access to information, ensuring libraries remain vital pillars in our communities.Â
5. An MBLC Favorite Quote about Commissioner Nourse:
“The services performed by Mr. Nourse as a public-spirited citizen, for the benefit of his town and his state, can hardly be estimated at their full value…for he sounded no trumpet before him. In both branches of the state legislature, on the library commission, as trustee of the Worcester Insane Hospital, as member of the state board of charity, on the school committee and the library board of Lancaster — in all these relations, and many more, his courtesy, candor and good sense, his disinterestedness, his unshrinking readiness to do his full share of whatever was to be done, are gratefully remembered and spoken of by all who were associated with him.” (Samuel S. Green, 1904)
6. Fascinating Fact about Henry Stedman Nourse:
Nourse is a descendant of Rebecca Nurse, one of the women hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692.
Do you know a public official that reminds you of Nourse?The Henry Stedman Nourse Award honors a public official whose work has whose work has helped to create groundbreaking change for Massachusetts public libraries.
Anna Eliot Ticknor, MBLC Commissioner from 1890-1896
Anna Eliot Ticknor (of Boston, June 1, 1823 – October 5, 1896) was an educator, who launched the first correspondence school in the United States, and pioneered public libraries in Massachusetts. She was a founding member of the Massachusetts Free Public Library Commission, known today as the MBLC, and served from 1890 until her death in 1896.
How did Commissioner Ticknor champion libraries in Massachusetts?
“Her familiarity with the intellectual possibilities of the home and the best methods and means of stimulating and meeting them, her appreciation of the free public library as an educational force, together with her experimental knowledge of the practical results that can be accomplished by simple and direct methods, made her judgment of especial value in outlining and crystallizing the work of the commission.” (Meeting Minutes and Report of the Commission, 1896)
How did Anna Eliot Ticknor’s work challenge the cultural, social, or political norms of the early 1900s?
Anna Eliot Ticknor was passionate about educating women in a time when women faced many obstacles pursuing higher education and intellectual endeavors. “… she was desirous to gratify, if possible, the aspirations of the large number of women throughout the country who would fain obtain an education, and who had little, if any hope of obtaining it.” (Samuel Eliot, 1897)
By providing women with the opportunity to pursue education via correspondence courses, Ticknor empowered women by expanding their intellectual horizons and challenging prevailing gender norms that confined women’s roles to domestic spheres. Ticknor fostered a community of learning and intellectual growth that paved a path for the broader movement towards gender equality in education. In fact, within two years of founding the Society to Encourage Studies at Home, Smith and Wellesley Colleges would be established (Bergman, 2011).
She and Elizabeth Sohier Putnam, another founding Commissioner, were the first women appointed to a United States public commission when they were appointed to the Massachusetts Free Public Library Commission in 1890.
What personal experiences shaped Anna Eliot Ticknor’s tenure as a library Commissioner?
Ticknor was highly educated and believed it was her responsibility to share her advantages with others, with the free public library holding a pivotal role in adult education. Her Society to Encourage Studies at Home was “designed to draw on the intellectual attainments of Ticknor’s leisured and wealthy friends to further the education of women throughout the country…Ticknor and her friends wanted to give away what men had long refused to allow women to buy: a liberal education.” (Bergmann, 2001)
How does Anna Ticknor’s impact still resonate in today’s libraries, and what can we learn from her legacy?
Ticknor’s work laid the groundwork for modern distance learning programs – she and the Society are cited in some Library and Information Science textbooks – and emphasized the importance of accessible education for all.
Libraries today continue to draw inspiration from her legacy by offering diverse educational resources and learning opportunities, embracing her vision of inclusive and lifelong education. From her and the Society’s legacy, we can learn the value of adaptability and the importance of creating learning opportunities that transcend traditional boundaries, ensuring education is available to everyone regardless of circumstances.
An MBLC Favorite Quote about Commissioner Anna Eliot Ticknor:
“It will be seen that she was a teacher, an inspirer, a comforter and, in the best sense, a friend of many and many a lonely and baffled life.” (Samuel Eliot, 1897)
Do you know a librarian that reminds you of Ticknor?The Anna Eliot Ticknor Award honors a Massachusetts librarian whose work has increased residents’ access to the wealth of resources held at libraries across the Commonwealth.
Anna Eliot Ticknor (June 1, 1823–October 5, 1896),of Boston, served as a founding commissioner of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts from 1890 until her death in 1896. Ticknor was considered a “Boston Brahmin”, growing up in a prominent, well-traveled, highly-educated, and literary-minded family. She was an author and early proponent of distance learning, especially for women to continue their education while carrying out their wifely and motherly duties at home. She also gave voice to the role libraries could play in educating the public.
Anna was born in Boston in 1823 to parents George Ticknor, a Harvard professor of modern languages and one of the founders and early presidents of Boston Public Library. Her mother, Anna (Eliot) Ticknor, came from an extended family that included presidents of both Harvard and Trinity (CT) Colleges and poet and playwright T.S. Eliot. She regularly hosted her husband’s distinguished colleagues, literary figures including Charles Dickens and Henry David Thoreau, and other notable family friends, at the family’s Beacon Hill home or when traveling abroad.
The work that consumed most of her adult life was, however, Anna’s founding of the “Society to Encourage Studies at Home” in 1873. She filled many operational roles for the organization simultaneously, championing its work and recruiting many of her Boston high society friends and connections to join her in its efforts.
Anna and the Society were true pioneers in American higher education for women, predating the founding of Smith College and Wellesley College by a few years. By 1896, the Society had remotely supported the continuing education of over 7000 students and engaged almost 200 instructors for its courses during its 23 years.
Anna was already 68 years old when she was appointed by Governor Brackett to be one of the first members of Massachusetts’ Free Public Library Commission. She was appointed to a one-year term to stagger the terms of the Commission’s board members, then reappointed for a full five-year term in 1891. She died on October 5, 1896, at her summer home in Newport, Rhode Island.
Author’s Note: While most of the sources for our expanded profile of Commissioner Anna Eliot Ticknor can be found online or in the MBLC Archives (follow the links in the text above to dive deeper into Anna’s many experiences and accomplishments!), the records of the Society to Encourage Studies at Home are held by the Boston Public Library and are not fully digitized.
The History of the MBLC is a new, recurring series of blog posts highlighting the people, organizations, initiatives, and events that have shaped the work of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and its impact on libraries across the Commonwealth since its founding in 1890. Posts are authored by Jessica Branco Colati, Preservation Specialist (in her role as agency archivist) and June Thammasnong, Communications Specialist, as well as other occasional authors. External links to primary and secondary sources accessible online are included in the blog posts. The first group of posts will highlight the founding Commissioners in the lead up to the agency’s 135th Anniversary.
What are you looking forward to as a new Commissionerfor Massachusetts libraries?
I’m looking forward to understanding the role I am in, what is expected of me and how I can make a difference.
What do you love about your local library?
There is something magical about entering a library; it’s the “old school” feeling where it takes me back to being a child spending my Saturday afternoons at my local library. Even though many things have changed over the years and not always for the better, the library has remained intact as a place to read, research and just be at peace in a nice quiet environment.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time I garden, I write and I raise chickens. I also make soap and I belong to a dance group.
What book changed your life?
The book that changed my life I would say is Jonathan Kozol’s book Death at an Early Age. It was the first book I read that had my own writing in it. Jonathan was my 4th grade teacher and he included a composition I wrote into his book. Seeing my writing in print for the first time was inspiring and even though it took me years to begin my writing career that has always stuck with me.
What are you reading right now?
I’m presently finishing my summer reading. I’m reading Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand and just finished several of her books; Winter in Paradise, Endless Summer and Nantucket Nights.
Commissioner Barros is pictured here at a book signing with the novel and two children’s books she’s authored.
Commissioner Joyce Linehan was recently appointed as Commissioner to the MBLC by Governor Maura Healey. She was sworn in on July 12, 2023 by Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll (pictured).
What are you looking forward to as a new Commissioner for Massachusetts libraries?
I am so excited to be a Commissioner, and I am grateful to Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll for the appointment. Libraries have been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was raised by a single working mother in Dorchester, and she really relied on our local branch library (shoutout to the Adams Street Branch of the BPL!) to keep us occupied after school and in the summer. So I am most looking forward to giving back, and to doing all I can to make sure that everyone in the Commonwealth has free and equal access to libraries. I am also very interested in and disturbed by the library censorship that’s happening around the country. Library boards are an important backstop for that kind of dangerous activity. I truly believe what T.S. Eliot said: “The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.”
What do you love about your local library?
I am a voracious reader, and I am a heavy user of library e-books. I love the ease with which I can build a queue and books just appear like magic when they are ready. My local is the glorious Boston Public Library system, and I have been to all but a few of the 25 branches. As a child, at my branch, I took acting and writing classes, saw plays, music performances and poetry readings. Through college I spent copious amounts of time in the stacks at the Copley Square BPL, where my world was really opened up. Some of those libraries – like the main branch at Copley and the one in East Boston are architecturally stunning. Some have such strong communities and active friends groups that they serve as neighborhood institutions, providing all kinds of resources and support. All of them are cherished stewards of knowledge and information, and community anchors. In 2010, there was a proposal to close several Boston neighborhood branches, and that idea was met with such outcry and community organizing that it didn’t happen. People really communicated all that libraries mean to their communities.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to read! I read once that the average American female reader finishes 735 books in her lifetime (684 for men), and that’s not a lot of books. So I’m on a bit of a mission. I write for fun, and publish a Substack about music. I am a small-time art collector, and really wish I had more money and wall space to pursue more seriously. I also like to attend live theater and music performances, and I have been known to host author readings in my house. In fact, we had Matthew Desmond (Evicted, and Poverty, By America) and he won the Pulitzer after visiting with us. Coincidence? Though I like to read, my dog, Mercy, would prefer I do something else.
Commissioner Linehan’s dog, Mercy, attempting to interrupt reading time!
Commissioner Linehan displaying a work of art she just purchased with the artist, Franklin Marval.
What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?
Oh, that’s a long list, and I suppose it depends on the day. I was inspired by Madame Secretary, George Martin’s biography of Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet secretary in the country, who really pushed FDR in designing and implementing The New Deal. Michael Patrick MacDonald’s All Souls was inspirational to me. I’ve known Michael since we were pretty young, and his courage in telling the until-then untold story of poor people in South Boston still inspires awe. Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law, which tells the history of racism in American housing was hugely important to me when I was then-Mayor Marty Walsh’s policy chief, as was Elizabeth Hinton’s From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America. And it’s relatively new, but Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste is an important book to me.
What are you reading right now?
I usually have one fiction and one non-fiction book working at the same time, and I just finished Howard Fishman’s remarkable To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music and Mystery of Connie Converse. I was glad to find out that I am not the only one who is completely obsessed with Converse’s story and music. I also just finished Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses, which is one of the best works of fiction I’ve read of late. It’s sort of a love story set against The Troubles in Belfast in the mid-70’s. It’s as funny as it is heartbreaking. Bonus: Louise didn’t start writing until very late in life, so there’s hope for many of us! As soon as I hit send, I am off to Maine for a quiet weekend, and I am bringing Catherine Lacey’s Biography of X, and Kerry Howley’s Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through The Deep State.
(Commissioner Cluggish in the center of Blades and Lauren Baker at a summer reading event at Tyngsboro Public Library in 2022 .)
What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?
Since this is my last year on the MBLC, it seems a bit odd to be introducing myself, but here goes. Just being on the MBLC and participating in events is interesting and fun. But speaking at Groundbreakings and Library Dedications is an honor and brings a special satisfaction. MBLC Summer Reading Events are simply delightful and again, a satisfying activity in helping to generate interest in reading in young children. It has been an honor to represent the MBLC at Legislative Breakfasts, meet Legislators, and advocate for Libraries. I enjoyed served as Chair for a couple of terms and certainly enjoyed the Executive Board.
(2017 Hopkinton Ribbon Cutting)
What do you love about your local library?
What I love about my own Library, is that it’s very well-run and busy. As Trustee Chair, I shepherded the construction of the new library through Town Meeting despite being vigorously opposed for two years by three different groups. I then was intimately involved with the construction for a year and a half; so intimately involved, that the Director and I chose the color of the mortar between the bricks! Whenever I walk into the building, I am so filled with pride that it feels like my head is going to explode. I also participated heavily in raising $3.6 million dollars for the construction of the new building and was part of the team that set up the Foundation. I served as a Trustee for 12 years; I am still active peripherally in various activities.
Plaque honoring Mary Ann Cluggish at Wellesley Free Library.
What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?
Who I am can be summed up in these categories: Travel, the Outdoors, Wildlife, Birding, Water, and Town Affairs. I got the travel bug early, saved my money, and traveled around Europe for a year when I was 22 years old. I’ve been on three African Safaris and to most of the countries in South America. I’ve also traveled the world with birding groups to search for and identify birds. I’m very proud of the fact that in my lifetime I’ve identified over 1000 species in the wild. On weekends in the winter, I can be found walking the beaches of Massachusetts looking for Snowy Owls.
(Left: Commissioner Cluggish is an avid birder. Do you know what type of bird this is? Right: Commissioner Cluggish in Argentina with a penguin!)
On the water: I volunteered weekly on the Boston Harbor Islands every summer for 13 years, leading tours and answering questions. I’ve done several whale and orca research trips with Earthwatch and similar organizations. I’ve also been kayaking the rivers of Massachusetts for a long time.
Insofar as Town Affairs go, I was part of a group of 5 women who founded the Town’s Recycling program way back in 1971. It was the first in the state and one of the first in the nation. Both the EPA and Mass Audubon surprised us with awards. I also was part of a group of 13 women who started an Environmental Aide program in the public schools. We took children on nature walks, and taught them winter tracking, simple geology, tree identification, etc.
I’ve been an elected Town Meeting Member for 40 years, served on three elected boards, on the Finance Committee, the Permanent Building Committee, and on several appointed Ad Hoc study committees. I served as chair of an Open Space Management Study Committee, convinced the Town Meeting to approve the merging of 7 different authorities and set up a Natural Resources Commission. As the first Chair, I negotiated the purchase of 42 acres of open space, and persuaded Town Meeting to approve funding the purchase.
Professionally, I was a Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a small company, and then a Trainer/Consultant to High Technology Companies. Both of these positions enabled me to travel both nationally and internationally.
What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?
As a young reader I was inspired by books about early aviators, with Amelia Earhart leading the bunch of course.
What are you reading right now?
Crossroads by Johnathan Franzen.
(Commissioner Cluggish gives a rousing speech about the continued importance of libraries and congratulates the town’s hard work at Salisbury Public Library in June 2014).
What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?
I particularly enjoy visiting libraries and getting inspired by the professionalism, creativity, thoughtfulness, and care I see in libraries across Massachusetts. I also appreciate being part of important conversations that affect library services for so many.
What do you love about your local library?
I have lived in Massachusetts for most of my life, and I have loved all of my local public libraries, from the tiny reading library in Richmond to Worcester’s large, beautifully updated modern library. I love browsing the stacks, finding a comfortable chair, and tasting many different genres, authors, and subjects. I particularly appreciate that libraries are often the only indoor gathering spaces in a community where people are not required to purchase anything!
What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?
I work full time as the Director of Library Services at Worcester Academy. In my free time I love to travel, hike, kayak, read, and watch movies with my family.
What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?
In high school I was introduced to Jane Austen, which started a life-long love affair with Regency-era drama. It was the first time I realized that people’s hopes, wishes, and challenges of the past were pretty similar to those of today, and thereby made literature–and history–come alive for me.
What are you reading right now?
I tend to have two books going at the same time, one fiction and one nonfiction. At the moment I am reading Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin.
What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?
I love traveling the Commonwealth and seeing the richness of the collections and offerings at public libraries. I once held an original draft of “Stopping By the Woods” by Robert Frost – and it was in the archives at the Jones Library in Amherst, Massachusetts. This was transcendent for me, and something I will never forget. You can walk into almost any public library and experience a world beyond the imagination. Knowing that librarians are at the core of knowledge and helping unlock questions – it is a power that I appreciate the most about these institutions and speaks to the highest of democratic ideals.
A photo of the original draft of Stopping by the Woods” that Commissioner Comeau shared. From a note he wrote in 2014: ‘Today I got to behold the original Robert Frost poem, Stopping By Woods. Plus an original manuscript of A Further Range. Interestingly, the person before me that photographed the poem was Annie Leibovitz.’ “
What do you love about your local library?
I love the staff, the patrons, the special collections, and the fact that we have been opening minds for such a long time.
What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?
I keep bees. I preserve old buildings. I travel. I produce large events and help market Downtown Boston as a destination. I also write historical essays. My favorite activity though is hiking with friends and spending time in the solitude of the woods – just like Robert Frost!!
What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?
For sure… Endurance – the story of Shackleton’s voyage. Also, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran is a book that has spoken to me in each stage of my life thus far. Every few years, I will turn to that book for new reflections upon my own life and where I am going.
What are you reading right now?
Ah, the NYT recommended a true crime book called Who Killed Jane Stanford and I recently wrote about Leland Stanford and a fabulous racehorse he sold and was stabled in my hometown (Canton, MA). So, the book is on my iPhone courtesy of Libby and it is a real digital page-burner.
Former MBLC Director Robert Maier and Commissioner Comeau present Patience Jackson with a commemorative map of the 177 successful construction projects in 2013.
What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?
I love visiting libraries throughout the Commonwealth and hearing the many ways they serve their communities with materials, programs and events. I’m proud to live in Massachusetts, a longtime leader in the nation when it comes to libraries.
Commissioner Traub & Blades at East Forest Park in 2022.
What do you love about your local library?
The MN Spear library in Shutesbury is one of three jewel-box libraries designed by 19th century architect Roswell Putnam. In spite of the fact that it is a tiny, one room cottage with no running water, it magically offers access to millions of books and digital content including eBooks, audiobooks and movies that I can enjoy from home or on the road.
What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?
I enjoy my work as an acupressurist and my hobbies of hiking the Quabbin woods, historical research, and reenactment, and performing with the Crescent Dancers Middle Eastern Belly Dance troupe.
What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?
When I was a tween, reading the biographies of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan transported me from the safety of my loving home to the horror of a 19th century poorhouse, showed how words can bring light to the darkness, and made me believe it’s possible to overcome challenges to create a meaningful life.
As an adult, my mind was blown by Layne Redmond’s book “When the Drummers were Women; a Spiritual History of Rhythm.” I didn’t know drumming used to be a part of women’s spiritual practice, that history is biased by the fact it was written by the conquerors, and that there was an ancient Egyptian goddess of libraries. I now have a tattoo of Seshat on my right leg.
What are you reading right now?
I’m reading “Cleopatra: a Life” by Stacy Shiffer (hardcover) and “Rachel to the Rescue” by Elinor Lipman (audio on the Libby app).
Commissioner Traub at the Grand Opening of Reuben Hoar Library in Littleton in 2021.
What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?
My favorite thing about being a commissioner is that after 40 years as a librarian, I can continue to contribute to the Massachusetts library community. I particularly enjoy visiting libraries across the Commonwealth, talking to staff, and seeing the technologies that libraries have installed. And of course, I love talking to people about the wonderful libraries we have in Massachusetts.
What do you love about your local library?
I love my local Friends group and I love being an active member. The Friends have been supporting the Ventress Memorial Library for more than 50 years and since my retirement I have had time to work on their fundraising and membership activities.
What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?
I walk dogs! Until recently we had 3 dogs (now down to 2) and they each love to walk. Living in Marshfield we have the option of walking on the street, the beach, and local bogs. Everyone in the area knows me – one time someone asked me if I was a professional dog walker. My husband and I also like to travel to the Southwest and Rocky Mountain areas to hike. My favorite activity is traveling to Tennessee to visit my son’s family and spend time with my 12-year-old grandson who is a Rubik cube whiz.
What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?
It is difficult to narrow this down to just a few books because different books have inspired me at different times of my life. I would have to say now that reading “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn had the most profound impact on me. After reading this book, I resolved to look at current events in light of societal trends and prejudices that are built-in to our society and to work to move us beyond into a more diverse and open community.
What are you reading right now?
“We Don’t Know Ourselves” by Fintan O’Toole. It is a personal history of modern Ireland and I am learning a lot about Ireland since the 1950’s. After I finish that I am going to move on to some light fiction.
(Left: Chair Commissioner Conrad testifying at the Ways & Means Hearing on March 31, 2023. Right: Chair Commissioner Conrad with at Library Legislative Day, March 15, 2023 with staff from her local library, Ventress Memorial in Marshfield.)
What is your favorite thing about being a commissioner?
In my short time as Commissioner, I have enjoyed visiting libraries and getting inspired by the creativity and thoughtfulness at play across Massachusetts. I always leave the libraries with the desire to return with my children. I also enjoy being a voice at the table where I can speak up for equity and equality, and being part of important conversations that affect library services for so many.
What do you love about your local library?
Although my family and I recently made our home in Haverhill, my longtime local library in Lawrence is where I enjoyed story times in the children’s room as a child, and where my son got his first library card. It’s also where I had the honor of leading as Director and being a part of growth and change so I love the special connection I have to it. Arts and culture play a large role in the Lawrence community and the library joined in by partnering with a local art organization on a 40-foot mural featuring Lawrence’s past to present with images of mill children to a young girl from the City today. Driving by that mural makes me smile as it helped to serve as a welcome back to many families who had not been engaging who could identify with the familiar images and know that the library was there to serve them.
The 40-foot mural outside of Lawrence Public Library.
What do you like to do when you’re not being a commissioner?
I enjoy traveling and dining with my family and experiencing shows from theater, concerts, and art exhibits which means we are catching up from the slowdown in 2020! The arts are important in my life and have led me to leading community writing clubs and exposing my son and daughter to different art forms. Little Ava loves to paint, and Jordan is learning to play the drums. Professionally, I’ve been enjoying growing my consultancy this past year where I am focused on providing thought leadership to executive directors and managers, as well as mentorship to their teams. I have the honor of co-producing the Bread and Roses labor festival for a second year in Lawrence through my consulting and look forward to supporting more individuals and organizations. I also lead worship at church and serve as a deacon.
What books have inspired you? *or* What book changed your life?
There are so many to choose from and they change according to the aspect of my life. I will say that one book that changed how I viewed leadership and organizational change is Jim Collin’s Good to Great. I read it while getting my Masters in Education and it has since served as the basis for how I approach my work, becoming the framework I used as a library director and now while coaching individuals. I was also greatly inspired by John Maxwell’s Put Your Dream to the Test which I read when I ventured off to live in LA after college and which motivated me to never stop working towards my goals. Aside from leadership books, I enjoy memoirs as I am deeply interested in who people really are and these vulnerable pieces of work allow us a better glimpse. I also think learning more about what makes someone tick versus only knowing the public version of them allows us to see the whole person, making us more authentic in our leadership and work and being better communicators.
What are you reading right now?
I’m currently reading and studying two cases from Harvard Business School to prepare for a day of learning this week, as part of an executive leadership network I am a part of called LEADS.
Boston Bruins PJ Drive event in 2019 with Commissioner Mary Ann Cluggish (leftmost) and Commissioner Jessica Vilas Novas (second to the right) when she was library director at Lawrence Public Library.
