Oskaloosa Formally Welcomes New Library Director

William Ottens took over as Oskaloosa Public Library Director on Monday, September 10

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Public Library officially welcomed the new Library Director William Ottens to Oskaloosa with a reception at the library Thursday evening.

Ottens has officially been on the job since Monday and says that things have gone well so far. He’s taken the opportunity to meet with the staff one on one, “so they will be comfortable talking to me and I’ll be comfortable talking to them.”

Ottens said interest in the job happened because his partners family is from the area, “and I’ve been kind of looking around”. Otten says that this one was one of the earlier positions that became available early in his search. “I’ve visited Osky a couple of times, the Lighted Christmas Parade,” saying it’s a nice community.

The process of meshing new director and staff is still ongoing, such as figuring out who is responsible for what. “Communication has been fabulous,” Ottens says about the staff’s willingness to listen and to communicate with him.

Social media has been a big part of Ottens past before coming to Oskaloosa where he worked on the social media team for his previous library, “I had a side job at a coffee house and I did their social media marketing.” He also attended, when he could, a social media club in Lawrence.

Ottens said he’s excited to see how social media can be used to help enhance the library experience for its users. He’s hoping to bring more users to the libraries Facebook page, and start to utilize the Twitter account the library has as well.

During the week, “Meet William” questions sprang up on the library Twitter page. Question 10: What do you like about working in libraries? “William: Meeting people and sharing knowledge and good books!”

“Twitter and Facebook and other social media platforms are a great marketing tool. Great source for us to put out our news, our information, promote our new titles. We can promote our events, even actively engage with the community.”

Ottens has anywhere from 300 to 500 physical books, “and I do have my Kindle,” Ottens says of his own personal library. He continues to learn how to play the guitar, something he’s been working on since college. “I can’t say I am a pro, but that is an interest I do have.”

If you want to keep up with the library on social media, you can follow these links:
Facebook HERE
Twitter HERE

Posted by on Sep 14 2012. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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