A Letter from the Director

At the end of February we'll be saying goodbye to our fearless leader, Steve Butzel. His energy, dedication, and humor will be sorely missed, and we're so grateful for his tireless steering of the library ship, especially during the pandemic. Steve is always game to dress up and get silly (whether it’s Sherlock Holmes, Grindelwald, or the Village People!), but he has also kept us all accountable, inspired and motivated, supporting our careers with active mentorship and a whole lot of patience.

We wish him all the best in the next phase of his journey!

He can never be replaced, but Assistant Director Christine Friese will become our new Director as of March 1, and we couldn't be more pleased. We hope you'll stop by in the coming weeks to say your goodbyes and congratulations to our fantastic bosses! 

To the entire Portsmouth Public Library community of cardholders, visitors, program presenters, art exhibitors, community collaborators, volunteers, donors, trustees, City staff and, most importantly, library staff with whom I have served over the past 13+ years, I want to say a HUGE thank you as I prepare to step away at the end of February for new adventures.

Serving as the library’s assistant director starting in 2008 and its director the last 7+ years has been an amazingly gratifying and enriching experience for me on so many levels. I feel deeply honored and incredibly grateful to have been entrusted with these roles and responsibilities. It goes without saying that I have learned so much along the way!

One of my primary goals as both assistant director and director was to expand the scale and impact of public programming for all ages at the library, with the underlying intention of emphasizing the library’s critical role as a community center welcome to all. By hiring the best staff on the planet, providing them with the necessary resources, and allowing them to be as creative as possible while fully utilizing the amazing facility which Mary Ann List and so many others helped design and create, I think it is fair to say, the library team has collectively achieved that goal and will no doubt continue to do so.

And while I am very proud of all that the library has accomplished over the past 13+ years, I am most proud of my library colleagues: their dedication to serve, their high standards, their extraordinary creativity and compassion, and their willingness to work with me both directly and indirectly in a collaborative manner. We have tackled a lot of challenging issues together and in many cases led by example for our community.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to all of you who use and love this precious gem of a library. Your undying enthusiasm for the staff and the full range of services the library provides, both tangible and intangible, is what truly motivates those of us who work here.

I wish you all the best going forward and feel greatly comforted knowing that the library will be in the incredibly gifted hands of Christine Friese, our new director, starting March 1.

Best,
Steve Butzel