By Vanessa Lenz
SLN Staff
It would be an understatement to say Alison Senkevitch is no stranger to the library.
The East Troy Lions Public Library’s new director has been around libraries or has been working in libraries since she was a small child.
Her father was the library director of the Menasha Public Library and she has had various family members work in closely related fields.
“We are all either librarians or teachers except for my sister who is in science,” Senkevitch said.
While she has a rich connection to libraries, her path to the East Troy Library was anything but straight and narrow.
“It took me a while to get to this place because I wandered a bit, but that’s OK,” Senkevitch said.
Directly after earning a bachelor’s degree in special education from Luther College in Iowa, Senkevitch served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria for two years teaching English as a second language.
She went on to be a classroom teacher and special education teacher.
“I still have a soft spot for special education,” she said, but decided it wasn’t the best fit and went back to graduate school in 2002.
She earned her master’s degree in library science from UW-Milwaukee and worked as a corporate intern for Harley-Davidson Motor Company.
Senkevitch took on a job as director at the Baker Alice Memorial Library in Eagle before coming to East Troy.
Senkevitch said the similarities between the two libraries attracted her to East Troy.
“It’s also a small library with a lot of hometown pride and some of the same struggles, but many of the same strengths,” she said.
The Wisconsin native, who grew up in the Fox Cities, said she looks forward to becoming a part of the community. She currently lives in North Prairie but said her family, including husband and two children, 5 and 7, could relocate to the area in the future.
“I think the director in particular should be part of the community and know the community. I feel like I can do that pretty well, but it would be a lot nicer if I had a house a half a mile away,” she said.
Senkevitch replaces Jackie Gotz. The former library director retired in December of 2012 after 30 years at the East Troy Library.
Senkevitch said she stepped into a library with a spectacular staff, which includes five librarians.
“A strength of this library and a strength that doesn’t depend on space is customer service,” she said. “They are all excellent and we will not let a customer walk away until we figure out what they want and help them.”
Senkevitch already has plans for some improvements up her sleeve.
While the programming for children has historically been solid thanks to a strong Friends of the Library group, Senkevitch wants to expand on offerings for adults and teens.
“I have an excellent staff and we have some longstanding children’s programming, she said, “but I have daydreams of doing wonderful things like more frequent adult workshops.”
Senkevitch created a teen library council in Eagle and hopes to do something similar in East Troy.
In the long-term, Senkevitch plans to develop a strategic plan for the library’s future space needs, but first wants to learn more about its history.
“I want to start the process of examining the situation and doing a sort of space needs analysis and just educating myself more,” she said.
Senkevitch said she will also work to make East Troy part of the modern library.
“We have the tools. An updated building and facilities would help, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” she said. “I think libraries are going to be around for awhile, but they are morphing into more community information centers.”
This means promoting new library services such as Zinio, which launched in March.
Senkevitch said Zinio serves as an “online newsstand,” which customers can use to access digital copies of many popular titles, such as “The Economist,” and “O, the Oprah Magazine.”
Users with a valid library card barcode and email address will be able to create a free account, then access the magazines whenever and wherever they wish using either a mobile device (tablet, cell phone, etc.) or computer.
“Look for set-up instructions on our website, or simply stop by the library. We’ll be happy to help,” she said.
“We offer so many resources beyond these four walls. All you have to do is come in and ask.”
Senkevitch said print is always going to have a place in the library, especially for children.
“I want the children in the area to have the wonderful experience of sitting on their parents’ lap and reading a picture book. That’s an experience you can’t get from an E-reader,” she said.
The East Troy Lions Public Library is located at 3094 Graydon Ave. For information, call 642-6262 or visit www.eastroy.lib.wi.us.
