Sycamore Public Library’s new director wants everyone to share her love of reading

By Kelli Duncan for Chronicle Media

 

The first task for Monica Dombrowski, the new director of the Sycamore Public Library, is to finalize the systems strategic plan. (Sycamore Library photo)

Monica Dombrowski, the Sycamore Public Library’s new director, is passionate about her new staff, the town and the role the library plays for all area residents.

“I love the staff, I love the community, the library facility and the services they offer are just really top notch,” said Dombrowski who started her new job on Sept. 4. “So it’s going to be a really fun role running this place.”

Before coming to Sycamore, Dombrowski served as digital services director with the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin. She said she planned to spend her first few days getting to know the community of Sycamore.

“I feel like I have the best of both worlds because I get to work in beautiful Sycamore and then I can still go see my old team in Elgin whenever I go back home and need to check out library materials,” she said.

Dombrowski said the first task she will focus on in her new role will be to finalize the library’s strategic plan, which will look at ways they can continue to engage and serve the Sycamore community more effectively.

Information on the plan is available at www.sycamorelibrary.org.

“The library has been working with a firm out of NIU to do some community surveys so we can hear what folks are looking for in terms of collections and services,” Dombrowski said. “So we’re about to get that data back and really what I want to do is just enhance an already great set of resources.”

Another priority is addressing service to Sycamore students and their families who live outside of the town’s limits and therefore do not have access to a library card with the public library.

“I have been talking to folks to understand what the environment is like out here and what challenges they might have and what we can do to get library cards in the hands of all of the Sycamore students,” she said.

Dombrowski said that some of these students may technically fall within the jurisdiction of other neighboring libraries, but it is often difficult for children to use those services if they are so far from home.

She said library cards provide kids with essential opportunities to learn, especially for those families who may be unable to afford college.

“It can be very impactful for their self-esteem and can really show that life isn’t always going to fair but there is always going to be a place for you at the library,” Dombrowski said. “There are always going to be opportunities for you to learn and gain knowledge.”

Dombrowski said among reasons she is so passionate about creating open and equal access for all Sycamore kids is the role that her own town library played in her life as a young child.

“My big inspiration, from a very young age, was the town librarian,” She said. “I grew up very poor and the town librarian was very encouraging to me.”

When she was only 10 years old, Dombrowski said she spent her summer reading every single book available in her library’s youth section. When she finished, the town librarian encouraged her to begin reading from the adult section and helped pick out books she thought Dombrowski would like.

“Having access to knowledge and access to people who really care to help you process that knowledge can really be a game changer in the forming of yourself and your confidence level in what you can accomplish later on in life,” Dombrowski said.

When asked, Dombrowski said her favorite book growing up was The House with the Clock in It’s Walls by John Bellairs – the first in a series of twelve mystery fiction novels written by Bellairs for adventurous young readers.

She said she still rereads the series every Halloween season, but her favorite book she read recently was Origin by Dan Brown.

“I pretty much read across every genre,” She said. “It’s all about what strikes me in the moment…I just feel like good art is good art. There’s so much out there and life is so short, you know, you have to let yourself be open to all possibilities.”

Dombrowski said this is the mindset that she will bring with her into her new role as she strives to ensure that every Sycamore child and their family has access to the world of reading.