SNOHOMISH—Sno-Isle Libraries’ newest Executive Director, Eric Howard, has big plans for the library system from implementing new programs, offering new services, to offering a third place where community members, regardless of background, can unite. Before he does, however, he is getting to know the community he serves and loves to better suit its needs.
Howard was appointed to the Executive Director position back in November of 2024, by the library’s Board of Trustees. He assumed a position left vacant by Lois Langer who retired in March 2024.
At that time Rose Olsen, President of the Board, said that Howard “stood out from the strong pool of candidates to lead Sno-Isle Libraries into the future,” bringing “inspiring ideas and a deep commitment to customer service and community engagement.”
Now, six months in, Howard is still intentionally delaying implementing his strategic plan until 2026, spending his first year as Executive Director getting a “lay of the land” and understanding his community. What that will allow him to do, he told the Lynnwood Times, is kick off the plan with some robust community engagement programs that operate based on how the community currently feels about its library system and what its needs are.
Howard plans to do this through community outreach and finding ways to bring more community members into libraries throughout Snohomish and Island Counties.
“I’ve learned from my many years of working in a library, that the trick is not to ask the community what it wants out of their library, it’s to ask what they need from their library,” said Howard. “Because they already have yesterday’s idea of what a library can offer them, but they don’t know all of the possibilities that we can offer.”
Howard brings with him nearly 18 years of library experience, beginning his library tenure as Community Library Manager in Queens, New York, and the bulk of which has been spent in various executive roles in libraries around California.
It was while working at the library in Queens when Howard recognized the power of libraries to be a third space for its community members, especially in a city like New York where neighborhoods are still fairly segregated by ethnicity and politics can be difficult to navigate even for the native English speaker.
“You go from world, to world, to world, but the library was that one space that allowed everyone to connect,” said Howard. “I learned that a library’s role was to connect the community and that’s why I was so attracted to Sno-Isle because its vision is to connect everyone to their library.”
The national library community is relatively close-knit, Howard said, and because of that he was well aware of Sno-Isle Libraries’ reputation for being intentional about its community long before he was offered the job.
Given this driving principle it’s of no surprise that Howard is enthusiastic to build upon Sno-Isle’s commitment to equity, dedication to customer service, and continuing to make library services accessible for everyone.
“There are very few spaces left in American society where no matter what your background is – you’re religious background, your economic background, your ethnicity – you’re welcome to come in,” said Howard. “Where else do you have that opportunity to come in and get to know your neighbors and try and understand their perspective? That’s what our program is trying to do, little-by-little, to build trust within our community.”
Separate to the opportunity in Washington, Sno-Isle’s nationwide reputation, and its mission/vision naturally aligning with Howard’s own, he has always been attracted to the idea of living in the Pacific Northwest – where he attended college at the University of Oregon and fell in love.
Howard’s strategic plan will focus on addressing what library staff’s needs as well as the community’s needs, while pushing the envelope in terms of innovation. Just a couple examples of “pushing the envelope” include utilizing systems that schools use to communicate with parents on a child’s progress and offering courses in various languages to expand accessibility.
Since the job of a library is primarily education-based, Howard is also a strong advocate for expanding literacy across the region.
Typically, the biggest challenge with expanding literacy happens at an early learning stage so he hopes to expand more reading assistance services, specifically for third grade readers, which is an important milestone for a child’s literary development.
Sno-Isle has recognized this need long before Howard took the helm as Executive Director with its Third Grade Readers program, which was launched a few years ago. This involves celebrating reading progress with rewards and certificates, using the Washington Library Association’s Otter Award-winning titles.
“It’s a really good program to get kids engaged and excited about reading,” said Katie Leone, Marketing and Communications Director with Sno-Isle.
Howard’s plan is not just about rolling out new programs. It’s about supporting the numerous existing programs Sno-Isle offers such as its Library on Wheels, which makes 23 stops to bring books to wherever readers are located, Reads Together author spotlights, Tales with Tails – where children can practice their reading skills with trained service dogs, Resources for Veterans, and more.
“We have no shortage of partners here in Lynnwood which is a great thing to have and we’ve developed a great relationship with a lot of these folks,” said Mel Delaney, Manager at Lynnwood Library, which is operated by Sno-Isle.
Seeing as Sno-Isle’s primary funding source is local; Howard informed the Lynnwood Times he’s not at all worried about the state deficit or federal spending cuts impacting the programs he hopes to roll out next year.
That said, Sno-Isle Libraries will continue to conduct an ongoing assessment on its funding to ensure its meeting the needs of its community members in years to come.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
One Response
This was an excellent article. Myself, as a shut-in, doesn’t care what is at the physical library but what the online library presence can offer me. The Overdrive.com system for checking out books online has deteriorated in quality over the past several years. This is not a Sno-Isle issue, as Overdrive handle numerous library systems as a “third party vendor for checking out online library books”. Still, I would hope that while concentrating on the physical, Sno-Isle doesn’t forget the online community.