Rochester Library Director serving as SAILS board president

Jun 24, 2020

ROCHESTER — Joseph H. Plumb Library Director Gail Roberts will be President of the Board of Directors for the SAILS library network for the next year. 

All three Tri-Town libraries are members of the network. 

Roberts had been a member of the board representing towns with under 10,000 people, and had previously been secretary for the board. She was elected as Vice President last year, so she knew she would be director this year. 

Still, she said “It’s nice to be asked.” 

The director said that the time commitment for the position is not overbearing, and she only spends a few hours a week on board work. 

However, it is certainly an unusual time to step up into a leadership role for the board. 

“This year’s been so different. We may need to change some things,” in what they had planned Roberts said. 

She said all libraries in the SAILS network are currently offering curbside pickup, and the first library in the network just reopened. Each library is working with their town to reopen. 

The next step for most libraries would be to start taking returns, which will be quarantined for about three days before they are checked back in.