Rochester resident and candidate for the Plumb Library Board of Trustees, Mary Duryea Levenson says she wants to make sure the library is used by the community. To do that she will rely on her economics background to find funding for new technology.

“I’d like to see them modernize,” she said. “I want to make sure the library is preserved so people don’t have to go to other libraries out of town to find what they want. I’m young enough to know what is current for younger people. I think I can contribute with the younger crowd.”

What they want, she said, is to keep up with the times. This includes Kindles and tablets.

A self-proclaimed “library person,” Levenson said she studied her way through the local schools at the Plumb Library.

She was born and raised in Rochester, and though she left to study at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, she has since moved back to town.

Levenson, 26, lives in Rochester with her husband Barrett and puppy Chloe, and works as a traveling Coffee Specialist for Jim’s Organic Coffee, based in Wareham.

Levenson, graduated from UMass Dartmouth with a bachelor’s degree in economics, which she said is something that she plans to put to good use if elected to the board.

Embracing new technology costs money, but with her background, Levenson said she thinks she can work with the board members on a budget for purchasing electronic readers for the library.

“I think I could provide good insight on how they work,” she said. “I think it’s important to have and that the board has a good opinion about it. I want to encourage others to look at that option.”

In addition to updating the technology at Plumb Library, Levenson says she would like to bring in more books to the library. Keeping the library’s catalogue current and having books that are in good condition, are two important goals she said she would like to see become reality.

Levenson says she would like to see more books come into the library as new so that they last longer.

“There is a gap where a lot of kids don’t go to the library once they get to the middle school and high school age,” she said. “It’s hard because some kids are readers, and some aren’t. We have to encourage them to go the libraries, and technology might be a way of doing that.”

Though, she said she has grown up with a love of reading, she can’t help but see libraries as a business. A business that needs some work, she said.

“I don’t want to think of a library as competitive, but I’m an economics major, and it is,” she said. “Some libraries have closed because of budget cuts. It’s nice to have a local library in the community. This is something I’d really like to do.”

If elected, the term for board member is three years, though Levenson says she would like to make a longer commitment.

“I grew up in Rochester and I’ve gone to the library my entire life,” Levenson said. “I’d like to stay on longer than three years. This is something that’s important to me. I live here and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. This would be a good way to give back.”