The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Beekley’s new director shares her longtime love of libraries
NEW HARTFORD — The new director of the Licia & Mason Beekley Community Library has always had an affinity for such places.
“I was born in Florida and grew up in Atlantic City, and moved to Connecticut as a teenager,” Lisa Shaia said. “We moved a lot, so the library was always a safe place for me to go as a kid.”
Like most small community libraries, the Beekley is the heart of the community, she said.
“It’s a wonderful place,” Shaia said. “I’m starting to meet people on Zoom and at the library. The staff is amazing and the patrons are awesome.”
Shaia was named the library’s new director in January, following the retirement of Dave McHenry.
After meeting her husband and getting engaged, she moved to Torrington and got a part-time job at the library. “I worked there and pursued my master’s in journalism, because I wanted to be a writer,” Shaia said.
“I had a few jobs at different libraries, and I liked the education part of it,” she said. “I was a school media specialist in
Litchfield for a while, and then I graduated to public libraries. Being a media specialist gave me a lot of experience.”
Before the Beekley, Shaia was the children’s librarian for the Oliver Wolcott Library in Litchfield, a job she held for 10 years. A few years ago, she decided she needed more administrative experience in the field, and left to work for the New Britain Public Library.
“It’s a beautiful place,” she said. “It has three historic buildings. It’s like working in a museum.”
She applied for the job at the Beekley in
November 2020, and started her new job Jan. 25.
The pandemic has kept the Beekley closed, but programs on Zoom have kept staff and cardholders busy.
“We keep trying to figure out how to meet the needs of the community,” Shaia said. “We’re doing make-and-take crafts to go home for storytimes (for children on Zoom), and we’re trying out new programs, trivia nights, things like that; events that have a community feel with them.”
Looking ahead, Shaia wants to improve the Beekley’s social media presence, using Facebook and Instagram. “We’re looking into ways to get more information out into the community,” she said.
“The library’s closed to the public right now, but we offer our storytimes and we have a wonderful children’s librarian,” Shaia said. “Nicole Misco’s been here since 2013 and she has a great relationship with the schools.”
Yet, Shaia misses her patrons at OWL.
“I miss the families and the children,” she said. “It’s nice to see them when I run into families, and share a little bit of their lives. It’s weird to see kids who used to come to storytime, all grown up, learning to drive. I hope to build the same relationships here that I had there.”
She and the Beekley staff all are animal lovers. “We share about our furry friends at home; I have two kitties from the same litter, and they’re going through a little bit of withdrawal
right now, with me working full time,” Shaia said.
The Beekley is looking forward to reopening to the public as soon as possible. “There’s only about 60 percent of the libraries in the state that are open to the public right now,” Shaia said. “But with all the vaccine talk, things are starting to move forward.
“I’ve been attending webinars on the topic of reopening and talking to other libraries,” she said. “We’re learning best practices and getting input from community members and staff. We don’t have a date for the next phase of reopening, but we’re working
on it.”
Nights at the Beekley, a popular fundraising concert series that attracts a wide variety of recording artists, singer-songwriters and other musicians, is on hold for the moment, like most efforts to raise money.
“The committee responsible for that fundraiser are working on how we can provide (Nights at the Beekley) during COVID-19,” Shaia said. “The Book Friends group is also busy figuring out how to fundraise. It’s a challenge.”
To learn more about the library and its programs, visit www.beekleylibrary.org, call 860-3797235 or email staff@beekleylibrary.org.