Meet The New Leader Of Our Local Library System

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The Great River Regional Library Board of Trustees has announced Brandi Canter has been named its new Executive Director. She has been with the library system since 2001, starting at the Royalton Public Library.

She says they've been working on a new strategic plan for the next five years with four directions. The first is supporting literacy learning.

That can be for little kids learning how to read, also digital literacy, financial literacy, and lots of different ways to help people make decisions about their lives.

Canter says the next is doing a better job of sharing the library system's story.

It is interesting how many times people come in and say I didn't even know we had a library in this town.  We want to make sure people know we are here and are here to help.

Next is being welcoming to all and eliminating barriers.

So that means not just making it easier for people to find us and get to us, but once they enter our spaces, making it easier for them to move around and know where to go to find answers that they are looking for.

Another direction is growing the library system's partnerships.

We've learned over the past decade that we do better, and our communities do better, when we collaborate with other organizations that have complimentary goals.  We want to lean into that.

The Board of Trustees will be asked to approve the strategic plan during its November meeting.

Canter has a Master's degree in Media Studies from St. Cloud State University.

You are invited to join them for Espresso with the Executive Director, a meet-and-greet opportunity, on November 20th from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. at the St. Cloud Public Library in the Bremer Community Room.

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The Great River Regional Library provides services at 32 public libraries and one to-go system in Benton, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd, and Wright Counties.  They have nearly one million books, CDs, DVDs, 250 public computers, and other information services.