Lansdale Introduces New Library Director

The new director of the Lansdale Public Library has hit the ground running.

Borough officials were introduced to new director Shira Pilarski at a recent council meeting, and the public got a chance to do so at the library’s annual Clean and Green recycling event on Saturday.

“Please come to the library, and come say hi,” Pilarski said.

The borough’s library has been leaderless since March, when previous director Tom Meyer stepped down from the position he had held since 2008. Staff had given updates on the interview process throughout the summer, culminating in borough Manager John Ernst introducing Pilarski to council on Sept. 20.

“It seems like this has been a long time coming, but certainly well worth the wait,” Ernst said.

Pilarski is originally from the Washington D.C. area and most recently worked for six years in Detroit, and told council she’s “extremely happy to be in the mid-Atlantic, the land of ‘soda’ instead of ‘pop.'” While Lansdale is the first place she’s been the library director, she’s worked in a varied range of communities: “I come to Lansdale with about ten years of experience in public libraries, in rural, urban and suburban environments,” she said.

“I have pretty extensive experience with very diverse populations, and particularly a lot of experience with unhoused people, so I think that my experience is directly relevant to this community,” Pilarski said.

In her first few weeks on the job, Pilarski added, she’s gotten to know the library’s regulars during daytime hours, along with the council members on the library committee that work together to plan and publicize programs and projects there, and plans to rotate late shift hours to meet the library’s nighttime crowd. Next was the annual Clean and Green recycling fundraiser, to be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 30 in the borough’s parking lot at Vine Street and Susquehanna Avenue just across from the library.

In addition to paper shredding and recycling, other items recycled included most small appliances, batteries, computers, printers, scanners, cellphones, VCRs and DVRs, with certain types of TVs and monitors requiring a fee — a full list was to be found on the library’s Facebook page, and all proceeds went to the library.

Pilarski has already begun a deep dive into the borough’s budget process for 2024, while also learning about repeating events like the library’s Friday Movie Nights at 6 p.m., the ESL Conversation Club every other Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Little Bookworms Storytime on Fridays at 11 a.m., Read Move Play Storytime every other Monday at 11 a.m., monthly Art After School programs, and offsite events like Family Storytime Thursdays at 11 a.m. at Whites Road Park, weather permitting.

Longer-term she’s already developing a to-do list of minor fixes to do around the library — think things like new carpet, fresh paint, HVAC system fixes, and a new vending machine to replace an empty one near the library entrance — while working on ways to better deploy staff and promote and publicize events.

“I’m extremely grateful to have a great group here, wonderful staff here, and to have the borough staff who’ve been helping out,” she said.

The Lansdale Public Library is located at 301 Vine Street, and is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. For more information call (215) 855-3228, visit www.lansdalelibrary.org, search for “Lansdale Public Library” on Facebook or follow @LansdaleLibrary on Twitter.

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