Laurie Orton has served as the Director of the San Juan Island Library for more than a decade, beginning in 2013. She brought a rich variety of experiences from working in libraries in Austin, Ann Arbor, Boston, and the Las Vegas area, as well as some years spent living in Versailles, France. She quickly had the opportunity to prove her mettle here when, in November 2013, the island experienced a catastrophic loss of communications, and the library, as one of the few places with a working Internet connection on the island, welcomed the community inside to fill all available chairs, computers, tables, and floor space. Since then, she has led the library through some exciting times (including the Library’s Curbside Pickup phase during the COVID-19 crisis) and the few quiet times between. Most recently, she led the library in successfully petitioning the community for a levy adjustment in August 2024. We took the opportunity to review Laurie’s career and speak about a few points of leading a library that she has learned over her career:

Why did you decide to start working in libraries?

After graduating college in English, I was stuck, knowing I didn’t want to be a teacher but loving knowledge, research, and literature until I ran into a friend getting her library science degree. I knew in that instant that that was the career I had been searching for all my life–I wanted to be a librarian (and not the rescue helicopter pilot I had once considered). And it’s been more interesting than I ever thought it could be. There are many paths to follow–academic libraries, legal, schools, health and medicine, government, and more. I figured out early on that I loved public library service, where I’ve worked for nearly 30 years. Libraries constantly evolve to keep up with societal changes, so the work is endlessly fascinating. Who knew we’d go from books to computers to WiFi hotspots? Libraries must be nimble to keep up with the times and people’s evolving needs.

What is an especially fond library memory?

I led One Book One Community programs in Henderson, NV, for two years. We hosted authors Deepak Chopra, Mitch Albom (The Five People You Meet in Heaven), and John Grogan (Marley and Me). We had such fun organizing large community book fairs (including “Who Let the Dogs Out?” that included a dog-jumping/swimming event), distributing free books, assembling a panel of religious leaders on views of an afterlife, and more. We got to be as creative as we wanted, so we went all out. And I drove John Grogan to Mervyn’s to buy swim trunks (summer in Las Vegas, baby).

What do you wish people knew about the library?

If you don’t use the library and don’t think you need to use the library, I would ask, “What interests you?” Then, I would tell you just how the library could help you enhance and grow that interest. People don’t understand all the many things the library has to offer, as much as we advertise. Every day, people are surprised to learn about something we do and have been doing. I’d say to you, come in and ask library staff about what we do, or start on our website and just keep clicking. I bet you’d find at least five things you didn’t know we do.

And something fun, before we sign off: What’s the most underrated book/TV show/movie/music that you wish more people enjoyed?

A long-time favorite of mine is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It’s a very dark book, but I really enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction for the chance to see how humanity might cope. It’s full of beautiful, descriptive writing, and I love the father encouraging his son to “carry the light.”