From reading to writing, Ken Haigh is hoping to take his skills to the next level.
Haigh, chief executive officer of the Collingwood Public Library, will be leaving the stacks at the end of next month to follow his dreams of teaching English as a second language and publishing his second novel.
“I’m just making a change. I’ve been here for more than eight years now and it’s been great. If you look at all the time I’ve spent in libraries, it’s been most of my adult working life,” Haigh told CollingwoodToday. “I felt like I needed to make a bit of a change before I retire.”
Prior to working at the Collingwood Public Library, Haigh also acted as CEO of the L.E. Shore Memorial library in Thornbury. After slinging books for years, Haigh will be writing a book of his own.
“I am going back to school to get my teaching certificate to teach English as a second language through the University of Waterloo,” he said. “I also have a contract to write a book, so I have to get that finished. It’s planned to be published this fall.”
Haigh’s book is a non-fiction travel title about pilgrimage for the University of Alberta Press. It will be his second published novel, his first being a memoir based on his time spent teaching in Bhutan.
“That’s going to keep me busy in the short-term,” he said.
When Haigh looks back on his career at the library, he says he’s most proud of the way his staff have adapted over the years to the needs of the community.
“I’ve really enjoyed the people I work with. There are great staff at this library. That’s probably been the best part of my job,” he said. “The programs we’ve offered have changed over time. For example, when I started working at libraries, the internet was in its infancy. Libraries were basically all print-based, or books on tape.”
“I think people have adapted really well.”
Haigh says programming has not only become more technology-based, but has also moved out of the bricks-and-mortar location.
“We’re taking our programs out into local nursing homes, or schools. We’ve expanded our programs for seniors because we saw a real need for that,” he said.
Haigh also noted the uptick in need for outreach or social-work-type services.
“We noticed there are a lot of people in the library who are in need, or are in trouble. So we’ve tried to find ways to assist them. This wouldn’t be a traditional library role. We’ve partnered with agencies in the community to assist people experiencing homelessness or food shortages,” he said. “Our role has really expanded over the last 25 years I’ve been doing this.”
Looking forward, Haigh said he sees one major problem on the horizon for local libraries.
“The biggest challenge is, we’re going to run out of space,” said Haigh. “The current library is designed for a population of 20,000 to 25,000 people, which is where we are now in Collingwood.”
“Those are big decisions that the library board is going to have to figure out in the next 10 years,” he said.
Haigh will be at the library until the end of April. While he said the town is currently seeking a candidate to fill the position, he suspects finding someone will be easy.
“They shouldn’t have too much trouble attracting someone because Collingwood is a really nice place to live,” he said. “I don’t leave with any regrets at all.”
