Metta LansdaleRobert Thompson, President of the Library Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that Metta Lansdale has been hired as the new Director of the Traverse Area District Library (TADL) and is scheduled to start on November 1. She will be replacing Michael McGuire who is retiring September 30 after 34 years of service.

TADL is a vibrant library system that includes four entities serving the Grand Traverse region: the Woodmere location, two branches in East Bay and Kingsley, and the three member libraries:  Fife Lake Public Library, Interlochen Public Library, and Peninsula Community Library. The headquarters on Woodmere celebrated its 10th anniversary in that location earlier this year, and within the past two years the Fife Lake Public Library and Kingsley Branch Library have moved into beautiful new facilities. The District Library is a dynamic and invaluable community resource.

Lansdale is presently the Director of the Royal Oak Public Library. Under her guidance the library experienced a 60% increase in visitors in 2008, followed by a 23% increase in the next nine months that established the library as a community center and anchor in the vibrant downtown of this southeast Michigan city.

Prior to Royal Oak she served as Director of the Chelsea District Library for nine years. Through her leadership she transformed a small village library into a state-of-the-art district library for the 21st century. She initiated a 1.2 million capital campaign and an 8.2 million bond election for the renovated and expanded McKune Library in Chelsea. This development was recognized in 2008 by the American Library Association with the designation as the Best Small Library in America.

Lansdale has 20+ years of management experience for a large hospital library and has worked for ten years launching and maintaining the Health Information section of MeL (The Michigan Electronic Library). She championed and developed public library marketing and volunteer services programming.

Lansdale is very active in the Michigan Library Association, and she is currently serving as Vice Chair of the Michigan Center for the Book. She is very active in professional and community organizations. She served as secretary and webmaster for the Royal Oak Rotary Club and back-up webmaster for the District Rotary site, member and incoming board member for Royal Oak Kiwanis and served on the Board of Directors of the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce. For the Michigan Library Association she is on the Legislative Action Committee and has served on the Technology Policy Committee and the Public Library Division Board. A reception for the public to meet Metta Lansdale will be scheduled after she arrives in November.

The public is invited to a farewell reception for outgoing Library Director, Michael McGuire, on Wednesday, September 30, from 3:30 to 5:00 in the Library Atrium.