After 18 years of service to the library as director and another 16 as treasurer, Mark Shaw is hanging up his hat and stepping into retirement.
As the fifth appointed director of the Southwest Public Libraries, Shaw holds the title of longest running library director, followed by his predecessor, Frances Black, with 14 years of service. With 35 years with the library under his belt, Shaw has certainly seen the city and community change and grow since he took the job in the mid '80s.
“Now, of course, it has become a booming suburb of Columbus,” he says.
During his tenure as director, Shaw has seen times of success and times of difficulty. The library’s funding is dependent on Ohio’s economy, he says, which was one of the greatest challenges for him as director.
“There have been great moments and not so great moments during this time,” he says. “Passing a levy for the first time in 2010 was a major success for us and helped to stabilize funding. And that levy made it possible for us to negotiate with the City of Grove City to build a new Grove City Library, which was opened in 2016.”
The new library has more than triple the space of the old building, going from 15,000 square feet to more than 50,000. The relationship between the city and the library was intrinsic to the success of the new library, and Shaw tips his hat to city officials with whom he collaborated to make the new library a possibility.
“Our collaboration and partnership with the City of Grove City has to be at the top of the list for successes for the library,” he says. “Mayor Ike Stage and City Administrator Chuck Boso worked tirelessly over several years to make this a possibility and without them, the new library on Broadway would not have been possible.”
Leaving the library is bittersweet, especially as Shaw takes his leave while COVID-19 is still a major concern.
“I spent my entire career striving to make the library a community center and a place to hang out and the pandemic has upended all that,” he says. “It will be great when things can get back to a more normal level operation and we can welcome patrons back into their library.”
In retirement, Shaw plans to be one of those patrons who still frequents his old haunt.
“I live just down the street from the Grove City Library, and I plan on using it a lot as a patron,” he says. “I’m a history buff, especially of the American Civil War and World War II, so I have a lot of reading to catch up on in those areas.”
Ready to step into the newly vacated role of director is Meredith Wickham, an experienced library director in her own right from Mississippi.
“Meredith is a seasoned professional who will lead us into the future,” says the SPL board of trustees in a press release. “She is a fierce advocate for public libraries in the areas of youth literacy, staff development and equity. She also has extensive experience lobbying for funding in her state, among other talents.”
While SPL is excited to welcome Wickham and follow her lead as she takes the library to new heights, the library community is sad to see Shaw go.
“We are very grateful to Mark for his many years of service to SPL,” says Joanna Morehart, communications manager for the library.
Shaw is ready to hand the reins to Wickham and looks forward to witnessing the library’s continued success.
“After having spent 35 years with Southwest Public Libraries, I wish nothing but the best for its future,” he says. “Grove City has an incredibly bright future ahead of it and I want to see the library successfully move ahead with the city.”
Sarah Robinson is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
