It’s a return to her hometown roots for the Washington Public Library’s new director.

Cary Ann Siegfried’s first day was September 29th, and she says it’s been great to get to know the staff and see elements of the former public library in the new facility that was built since she moved out of the area. Siegfried is a proud University of Iowa alum who also has Master’s degrees in library and information science and public administration from Louisiana State University and the University of Texas at Arlington. She served as Director of Libraries at the Arlington Public Library in Arlington, Texas, Director of Libraries and Community Services for the City of Salinas, California, and most recently the library director for the City of Irving, Texas.

Siegfried says she looked forward to reconnecting with Washington and having closer contact with library patrons. Two of her bigger interests are collections and technology, and she anticipates her first year on the job will involve looking at how community and information needs have changed since the pandemic, “I think we’ve got to really spend some time studying how our collections and our services and our programs need to adapt to those changes. And I really think most public libraries throughout the country are going to be spending time doing that over the next several months.”

Siegfried replaces Bryna Walker who is now the library director for Clear Lake. She believes Washington has a great public library for a community of its size, and staff that makes great use of the resources they’re allocated. Siegfried is also appreciative of how welcoming the community has been thus far.