SOLON — The Solon Public Library recently welcomed Mykle Clark as the new Adult Services Librarian — taking over for Alexis Kruth, who served in the position for the previous five years.

Clark worked at the Iowa City Public Library from 2019 until taking the Solon job.

“I fell in love with it immediately,” Clark said of library work. “Just helping people do activities on the computer, printing, answering basic questions and book recommendations, I could really see myself doing this.”

Clark was an hourly librarian in Iowa City but was limited to working just one weekend a month. He found the open job in Solon and immediately took interest.

Living in Iowa City, Clark didn’t want the trouble of having a long commute to work and wanted to keep the trip under 30 minutes. This made the fit at Solon even better. It kept the trip relatively short while allowing Clark to enjoy his favorite disc golf course, Sugar Bottom Park, on the way home from work.

Library hosts programs for adults

Clark’s job is to organize ideas for the programs provided for the adults of Solon, some of which might include book clubs, do-it-yourself activity nights, and cooking classes. Most of these programs are already established, but it’s Clark’s job to come up with agendas and projects before the next organized meeting.

“So if it’s Do-it-Yourself Night, that’s already set, but I have to find the thing it’s going to be,” Clark said. “I’ve got to make sure it’s reasonable within the hour we scheduled and I have to create the thing myself to make sure I can do it and help people do it.”

This planning process forces Clark to look months ahead of the calendar year to make sure each group has an activity and a meeting area set up.

Because of the small staff, employees are responsible for a multitude of responsibilities in addition to their intended title.

While programming is Clark’s main focus, desk work, cleaning, shelving, and helping other guests are just some of the other jobs he will do, depending on the day.

“We all take part in all the different activities,” Library Director Liz King said. “As you can see, I am the director, but I am on circulation desk number two every day.”

The Solon Public Library takes pride in being a welcoming place for all members of their growing city, staff said. Providing much more than books, this institution is the bloodline of the community and is a place where people can gather to learn, educate, and grow closer.

Thus far into his tenure, Clark has enjoyed being a part of the Solon. He says that the community he’s now a part of is amazing to him.

The rest of his co-workers have been very helpful in his emergence into the library. Welcoming him with open arms, Clark has felt no sort of rough transition in the first handful of months on the job.

“It feels like I have known them[the staff] for years,” Clark said. “It’s been a very good fit I think, and they at least tell me the same.

Staff involved in hiring process
One of the reasons for the smooth fit is because of the unique hiring process King uses when trying to find a replacement for a staff member. After making a detailed job description of the many tasks and responsibilities assigned with the new position, King makes sure the rest of her staff is fully involved with interviews and reviews of potential candidates.

“We all need to work well as a cohesive unit and support each other,” King said. “In addition to the qualifications on paper, we also want to make sure it’s going to be a good fit for our community and our team.”

King said the Solon staff were blown away by Clark’s background experience, previous library work, and overall persona.

“Truly in his interview, you really could get that feeling of ‘I want to help people,’” King said. “I feel like that is something that you can’t fake. You really can see if that’s genuine or not.”

Clark sees the library as an available space for all residents to educate themselves and socialize with the rest of the community.

“It is necessary, we need it,” Clark said. “Especially since division is just increasing. I think a way to combat that is to not think of ‘us versus them,’ but to think that we are all here together. We have different opinions, but we have to live together.”

Thank you to our amazing community for their support!