PAPLOW NEW LIBRARY DIRECTOR AT SLAYTON LIBRARY

By Crystal Reith, Staff Reporter Dwayna Paplow, of Fulda, has taken over the reigns as the new library director at the Slayton Public Library.Paplow started her new role when longtime director Lori Stainer retired at the end of August. “I have been able to hit the ground running because of the foundation left by the two previous library directors,” said Paplow. “I’m blessed that I feel like if I run into something unexpected, I can call on their wisdom for help.”

Prior to taking on this position, Paplow was the part-time librarian assistant at the Fulda Public Library for nine years. “When my family and I moved from Brainerd back to Fulda, I knew I couldn’t work in theater full-time,” said Paplow, who had been working at the Central Lakes College as the technical director for the theater department before their move back to Paplow’s childhood home north of Fulda. “I developed an interest with children’s literature and applied to be the library assistant so I could do story time. It was a valuable nine years under Beth Cuperus, the library director in Fulda.”

While working at the Fulda library, she also served as a delivery driver for Plum Creek Library Systems. “During COVID, things were in higher demand and circulation still needed to happen, so I spent three years driving part-time,” said Paplow. “I got to see how many of the libraries function and got an interest in logistics.” The lure of a collaborative environment drew Paplow to make the switch in libraries and roles. “I’m interested in a team environment because that’s what theater is. You can’t put on a production without a team,” said Paplow who earned a theater arts degree from the University of Minnesota Morris. “In Slayton, there’s a robust library board, an active friends’ group and the city is invested.”

In her new role, Paplow hopes to develop more relationships with other groups and looks forward to offering more outreach in the community. Paplow has already begun working with a homeschool group and looks forward to the summer reading program returning. “Our first homeschool gathering was introductory with a tour, but we will have meet and greets in November and December,” said Paplow. “I’m very thankful that the library has been through major renovations the last two summers, but it will be nice to have the summer reading program back at the library this coming summer.” While most of the library has been remodeled, the teen corner still needs to be finished and will be unveiled at a teen event at the end of October. Paplow also looks forward to meeting community members and connecting with people from her past. “I’m really excited to meet folks that haven’t come in yet as they may be a seasonal reader,” said Paplow, who is a part of the winter reading committee for the library system. “There are some people who only use the library in the winter or summer, so I’ll wait until that season to meet them.” Paplow, who considers herself an imperfect reader, encourages everyone to check out the local library because it’s more than just books. “You don’t have to have perfect reading habits to be a reader. I’m a slow reader, I abandon books all the time and I totally judge books by their covers, but I’m still a reader. If you’re reading or learning to read, you are a reader,” said Paplow. “The library has more than just books. It has diversified to movies and kits and audio players because literacy comes in many forms. Libraries are trying to meet the community needs for all types of readers.”

To help meet the needs of the community, Paplow recently used grant funds to add Spanish and bilingual books to the library collection. “To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we have a display of mostly Spanish and some bilingual copies of books. If there’s a title in Spanish, just ask because we might have a copy in English too,” said Paplow. “I look forward to doing more research in northern Murray County to see what there may be for future reading material needs.” Paplow has also been working on converting financial paperwork so it will be calculated in an excel spreadsheet and updating the library website. “I have been taking online courses to better understand bookkeeping with that software,” said Paplow. “The library website, slaytonlibrary. org, has been updated now with a new color scheme and events calendar.”

While Paplow is excited about her work at the library, she is looking forward to the hiring of a full-time librarian who will work with patrons, managing, the collection, programs and create displays. “I’ve been balancing both the library director and librarian positions right now,” said Paplow. “Sandi Gertsma, the library clerk, has been a great resource and has been helping, but she’s meant to just fill in when both the director and librarian are gone.”

Paplow and her husband Cory have two daughters. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, spending time with family on the farm and being home.