Manager of San Luis Library to leave post
SAN LUIS — Lorenia Diaz, manager of this city’s library for more than two years, is leaving her post later this month to move with her family to Florida.
“I have really enjoyed working with the community,” said Diaz, whose husband will be accepting a job promotion in Florida. “The community always has been welcoming and respectful to us.”
Diaz’s last day will be Oct. 21, after which the county will begin recruiting candidates to oversee the library that serves a rapidly growing border city of more than 30,000 residents.
A native of Hermosillo, Son., Diaz joined the library district in 2009, after earning her master’s degree in library sciences from the University of Arizona.
Besides the San Luis Library, the district consists of the Main Library in Yuma and the Heritage Library, plus branches in Somerton, the Foothills, Wellton, Roll and Dateland.
At the Main Library, Diaz’s duties were providing programs for adults, including Spanish classes she taught to patrons. But she saw her responsibilities grow after she applied for and was named to the position of San Luis Library manager in May 2014.
“When you come here, when you come to any of the branches (as manager), you have to create programs for the whole family, and that can be challenging.”
Diaz said she discovered early on that not all programs that were popular in Yuma would necessarily prove as successful in San Luis. Nonetheless, she said, that apart from loaning books and provide other educational materials and services, the San Luis Library has come to host a variety of arts and cultural programs and exhibits that have attracted a wide following among patrons.
“I think that the library is going to continue growing and that it’s going to provide more programs, more cultural programs and more innovative programs.”
Diaz, who has supervised 10 librarians and three custodians in San Luis, says she is applying for a position with the library in the city where her family will relocate.
Once Diaz has left, the district will begin advertising for applicants to fill the position, with one of the candidates to be chosen by a panel made up of the library district’s director and assistant director, other district employees and members of the community.
“I just wish luck to the person who is chosen after I leave,” Diaz said. “And I hope it’s someone who continues what we have done, someone who understands the culture of the community.”
She added, “We have a very good staff (at the library), and it’s very sad to have to leave.”