Sarah Mallory: Hagaman’s New Director
For Sarah Mallory, becoming the new director of Hagaman Memorial Library is a homecoming.
"I grew up in East Haven, so this is the first library I went to when I was a little girl," Sarah says. "It feels very much like coming home."
Sarah became the new director for Hagaman on Dec. 1, after having been at James Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford before her return to her hometown and its 113-year-old library. With her role, she has found new responsibilities and much to learn.
“That’s always a process. It doesn’t matter what job you’re going into, you have to learn the culture, and you have to learn how things work before you can try to change anything for the better,” she says.
While adjusting to her new role at Hagaman and the library's many services, Sarah knows she is in company with the people surrounding her.
“I think one of the things this library has going for it is how nice the staff is. They’re always ready to help, always ready to lend a hand. Whether that’s to other staff members or the community.”
With a friendly, supportive, and conscious staff, the community is in Sarah’s mind when considering a change for the better, which she knows is certainly a goal Hagaman can achieve. She views the library as a microcosm of the East Haven community and for a sense of inclusivity and conviviality, especially being a place where she has familial and childhood ties.
“One of the most important things that the library has is that spirit of kindness, where it doesn’t matter what your religion is, your background is, financial background; it doesn't matter where you come from. If you come into the Library, everyone gets served equally,” Sarah says. “[East Haven] is a town that was built on strong community values, and I love that the library still embodies that and that we’re here to help them support each other.”
As the new director at Hagaman, Sarah envisions approaching her role and the ensuing activity of the library with a new model, where the community is the foundation and initial influence on services and outreach.
“Management from the top down and the bottom up,” as she characterizes the cyclical framework.
“A lot of people think of management as a pyramid where somebody is in charge and is sitting on top, and it’s their job to direct what happens. I think of it the other way around,” she says. “You need somebody on the bottom who’s being a strong support, and that person on the bottom is supporting all of the staff members: the full-time staff, the professional staff, they’re supporting the part-time staff, and all of those together are supporting the community, in general. But in order to offer that support, the community needs to give the feedback of what matters the most to them so that’s how it’s flowing back in the other direction. “
Sarah hopes that with the “big feedback loop” between Hagaman and the rest of the East Haven community, it can provide for the former’s services to be performed in the best way possible, with the imperative, overarching goal of serving the needs of the community.
“I think one of the things that will come up for the library in the next few years is strategic planning, so we have a plan for the future of the library and that will be directly influenced by the community. It will be a chance for the community to come in, have their opinions heard, join a discussion group, and tell us what matters the most: what kind of schedule of hours do they need, what kind of programs are they looking for. I can make those decisions based on what I think is important, but that’s not what the East Haven community needs.”
Although she was only recently appointed the new director, Sarah already sees the opportunity for new programming oriented towards young adults, as an example of connecting more closely with East Haveners and what their interests are regarding programming. Sarah understands this especially from life experience, given the liberty an establishment like Hagaman provides for a myriad of diverse interests.
“I was always one of those kids who had trouble deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up because there were so many things I was interested in. But the library is this wonderful place where all of those interests come together. Whatever you’re interested in, the library is a place that brings together your own individual interests and serving the community and that was something that was always something that was important to me. That’s how I found a home here.”
She expands that message to young adults as well.
“If there are members of the community in their 20s and 30s that are looking for a place to belong, volunteer their time, I hope that they'll come in and tell me what would matter to them because we can start to use that to build something new.”
Now back in East Haven, she joins the rest of her immediate family, including her parents, Bob and Kathy Mallory, and her brother Rob. She shares a home with her fiance, Justin Strickland, and her two “wonderful cats,” one of them named Teddy Graham, after the bear-shaped cookies. Her other feline family member is named Pippi Longstocking, who Sarah named after the titular character of Astrid Lindgren’s children's book series, who “is a precocious redheaded little girl, and so is our cat,” she says.
A homecoming to East Haven it certainly has been for Sarah, with her family close by and direction ahead to be a supportive and attentive member of the community.
“It’s the place where I grew up and where all of the people who mean so much to me, my family, all live here too. It’s a town that means so much to me,” she says. “East Haven has a spirit that’s unlike other towns. Being a part of that, I’ve missed it. Being a part of that again, and hopefully being a positive influence, that means a lot to me.”