People in The News
Local Woman Takes Helm at Raymond's Dudley-Tucker Library
By Leslie O’Donnell 3-29-17
Kirsten Rundquist Corbett, the Dudley-Tucker Library’s new director, said she’s always viewed a library as an integral part of its community. And as a Raymond resident since 2006, she is excited to be her hometown library’s new director, and hopes to see the library become the center of town.
Corbett comes to Dudley-Tucker from the Sandown Public Library, where she had served as director since 2013.
Corbett moved with her family to Bedford when she was 13, and graduated from high school in Manchester. She attended Brigham Young University in Utah, her parents’ alma mater, but returned to the East Coast to complete her undergraduate degree at the University of New Hampshire-Manchester. She received her Master of Library and Information Studies degree in 2007 from the University of Rhode Island.
She began her library career during college, when she worked as a part-time circulation clerk at the Manchester Public Library. That led to promotions to full-time circulation clerk, inter-library loan services, and assistant librarian in charge of teen services.
With her Master’s degree in hand, Corbett was hired as teen librarian at the Lane Memorial Library in Hampton in 2007. Her duties expanded to reference librarian and inter-library loan services supervisor as well. She worked in Hampton until 2013, when she took the director’s job in Sandown.
She said her interest in library work began when she was a child. “I always thought I’d be a librarian, and then thought I might not be able to take all the classes needed, so I considered teaching,” Corbett recalled. But she quickly returned to her interest in libraries after an interlude as a bridal consultant at Chalifour’s in Manchester.
Corbett’s first day of work at the Dudley-Tucker Library, located on Epping Street in Raymond, was March 6, and she’s happy to have a job in the town where she lives. She’s busy settling in and learning how the local library operates.
“I see the library as an integral part of the community,” she said. “I’ve wanted to work in my hometown library, and this is an amazing opportunity to become involved in my community. That will shape my goals in the future.”
Corbett is married to Gary Corbett, and in her spare time, she watches movies, and – what else – reads a lot. She’s also expanding her library education with online classes, and is currently enrolled in a class offered by the American Library Association in cataloguing.
Sabrina Maltby, chairman of the library’s Board of Trustees, said Corbett was one of five applicants for the post, and noted the Trustees sought a director who had a Master’s degree in library science. “We want to see the library put into the next century,” she said. Corbett is the library’s first director to hold a Master’s degree.
Maltby emphasized the extensive interview and vetting process that went into Corbett’s hiring, and said the committee sought someone with the potential for longevity in the job.
“We spent extensive time and energy in finding a candidate whose background and philosophy we hope matches best with the community,” Maltby said.
“My hopes, and the hopes of the interview committee and Trustees, are that people will come to the library to meet Kirsten,” Maltby concluded.
Corbett replaces Linda Hoelzel, who retired March 17 after more than 30 years with the library.