Pictured here is Sierra Martin-Miller, new library director at the Sugar Grove Free Library. Martin-Miller hopes to reach all age groups in the community for programming available at the library. Photo by Jessica N. Rex

SUGAR GROVE – The Sugar Grove Free Library has welcomed a new face to its community.

Sierra Martin-Miller, the library’s new director, grew up in Penbrook, N.Y., and graduated high school in 2015. Currently residing in Jamestown with her husband and young children, she was hired in the fall, just before the holidays. Martin-Miller attended the State University at Fredonia and graduated with a degree in adolescent education, has had teaching experience in that age group and the preschool level as well.

After deciding that she wanted something different, she found herself employed at the Sugar Grove Library, currently working toward her library science certificate. Growing up in a small town, the pace in Sugar Grove is nothing new for Martin-Miller. She enjoys that several patrons have come into the library and already know her face by name, thanks to Facebook. Knowing that change can be difficult, she is appreciative of the receptiveness and kindness she has received, since filling a spot of a community staple.

A library director has many duties and perhaps the most prevalent is the programming and how to match it to the needs of the community. Discussing how the atmosphere of the library has evolved over the past few decades, libraries of today are no longer a super quiet place, but instead a very welcoming place for learning and socialization.

There is adult programming each month, including a big yearly fundraiser that will take place in the summer. It’s a bingo fundraiser that always brings a good sized crowd. Wanting to inform the community that there are things the library offers to enrich their lives, Martin-Miller is beaming with ideas and also welcomes the input of the community.

There is a Homeschool Hub available which is being renovated. Martin-Miller would like to know what the public is in need of and what they would like to see added. Every third Thursday of the month there is a playdate program which is new and has had a good start. This early time once a month is open early, specifically for young children and their adult.

Martin-Miller would like to bring more programming for the age brackets in between the very young and senior aged populations. She would like to make teenage nights available and graphic novels have already been filling a section of the library. Hoping for the next fundraiser to extend the library for a meeting room, this new director is excited to see how the library will continue to grow.

In addition, Martin-Miller said that they are slowly adding to their “Library of Things.” Currently there is a handheld carpet cleaner that can be borrowed. There are other ideas in the works and knowing what the community needs is important. Other ideas thrown around are a telescope, a projector, a bicycle and tools. Adding to the “Library of Things” means that the public should make suggestions on what patrons would use that they necessarily wouldn’t want to buy for themself.

Always looking for more volunteers, the library also seeks people who have a skill to share such as basic sewing, photography, candy making, simple car maintenance, knitting, wood burning, emergency preparedness, and more. For more information visit the library’s Facebook page or website at www.sgfreelibrary.org