SWAMPSCOTT — For years, Jonathan Nichols wanted to be in the room where decisions were being made. Now, as the town’s new library director, Nichols finally has the chance.
“I just wanted to be one of the decision-makers in the room to really help shape a library and move forward,” Nichols, who took over as director in July, said in a Monday afternoon interview in his office, a calendar bearing photos of Betty White pinned on the wall behind him. “It basically means that you’re responsible primarily for the budget. You get to decide, what collections are we expanding? Are we buying new furniture? Are we looking at renovations? That kind of thing is really exciting to me, and really trying to find ways of finessing the numbers.”
A resident of Salem, Nichols said he has had little trouble adjusting to life in Swampscott.
“The town has been warm and welcoming. I’ve had members of the community just coming in to talk to me, which is nice. The trustees are wonderful as well. It’s been pretty great so far, can’t complain,” he said.
Nichols got his first library job in Little Rock, Ark., after graduating from college with a degree in English and studio art. He had planned to go back to school to become a teacher but quickly fell in love with the possibilities of librarianship.
“I just saw firsthand how libraries, especially the one where I worked at, it was in a very socio-economically diverse part of Little Rock, so it was very hard hit and so to really get to see the positive changes libraries could bring about was just all I needed,” Nichols said. “I quit pursuing teaching and went full speed towards librarianship.”
After spending years working in larger communities like Little Rock and Haverhill, Nichols said he has come to prefer smaller libraries like the one he now directs in Swampscott.
“I’m glad I actually ended up here because you have an opportunity to really get to know your community, your regulars, and really kind of set those roots, which is something I really like to do,” he said.
Nichols’ predecessor, Alyce Deveau, retired in October 2021 after serving as library director for more than two decades. He said he could see himself in Swampscott for the long haul.
“There are definitely large shoes to fill, to say the least, but I definitely think I’m up to the challenge. I’m looking for somewhere to really settle and not move anymore. Switching jobs is always stressful. So I’d really like to find one where it fits,” Nichols said.
In the short term, Nichols is attempting to bring on more staff to counteract some of the staffing issues the library faces in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and putting together a proposal to get new service desks in the library.
In the long term, he said the library is likely due for an overhaul.
“The space, while it works, it’s not necessarily the most functional,” Nichols said. “We don’t have individual study rooms for people that might be coming here for that. We oftentimes look out here and there’ll be people having full-volume conversations next to someone who’s trying to study. It’s just not the best.”
“We also don’t have a dedicated youth space … we have a little corner … carved out for them. But it’s not necessarily like a purposeful space. It’s just kind of like where they had a tiny corner that kind of shoved the teens there. So I really want to re-examine that,” he continued.
Nichols said one of the key things he has tried to bring to the job since taking over has been broadening the library’s community engagement efforts. He said he was hopeful that in doing so, people would be more inclined to visit the library.
“It just creates a great atmosphere for the library to be quite frank. And it’s something that we really missed during COVID was like the hum of the building coming alive every morning,” he said. “It kind of creates that just-community vibe, which I’m all about.”
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
