Passion brought Jason Driver, the new director of Kitsap Regional Library, from Chicago to Kitsap County.
In deciding to leave Chicago for the job, Driver said he saw the same passion in library staff members as he'd seen at the Chicago Public Library: employees who are dedicated to delivering library services to the community they serve.
"This library is like Chicago, and the way that people are really intentional about making sure that they deliver services to the public, and they're passionate about what they do," Driver said.
It's been roughly six months since Driver took the helm of KRL after long-time director Jill Jean retired in December. In that time, Driver has committed himself to community outreach and internal communication with library employees.
He said he's working on identifying the community's needs while also figuring out how to sustain the library and ensure it serves everyone in Kitsap County.
"I'm thinking about present day, here, now, and the future for Kitsap," Driver said.
Driver was born and raised in Chicago and has 20 years of experience in public library service. He received a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and served most recently as a District Chief at Chicago Public Library, opens a new window before he came to KRL.
In the past few months, Driver has met with community stakeholders, county commissioners, mayors and tribal councils. He's conducted detailed interviews with KRL's board members, managers and staff members to understand what the community needs from KRL and the expectations of his staff, Driver said.
"I'm a servant to the people working for me, and I'm a servant to the larger community," Driver said.
In meeting with members of both the Suquamish and Port Gamble S'Klallam tribal councils, Driver said he learned how the tribes want to be recognized in KRL's programs and literature.
"We recognize that our tribal communities play a huge role in our community here, and we want to be able to really speak to and honor what they have been for our community," Driver said.
Some ongoing plans include increasing the hours of the library, which were reduced during the pandemic; creating a new KRL website; and testing a book locker in Poulsbo, where patrons can retrieve their library holds outside the library's regular hours. If it's successful, the library is considering expanding the locker service to some remote areas to serve more.
The library has partnerships with the North Kitsap and Bremerton school districts that allow students to use their student IDs to access library services, Driver said. KRL is hoping to create similar partnerships with other districts. It's also looking to offer assistance and resources — in the form of computers, free WiFi and more — to help those filling out financial aid applications for college.
"We have a unique place in the community and that we're trusted...libraries are open access for everyone. And I think we can build on that," Driver said.
