Barron is the new director of county library system

The Mississippi County Library System is has announced that Kevin Barron will become its new director.

Barron will replace Jay Ziolko, who is retiring.

"Mr. Barron has done a wonderful job at the Osceola Library and as assistant director," Sandra Kennett, president of the Mississippi County Library Board of Trustees, said. "He is very well prepared to step up and become our new county librarian. Our board voted unanimously to make him the new director. Mr. Barron has some wonderful ideas for our libraries in the future and I can't wait to see what he does as our new director."

"I met Kevin when he got here and again at the library," added Rogers Ford, Mississippi County Library System Board of Trustees member. "We became friends and I know he will do a good job as our new director. I like the positive way he thinks, his technology skills and his personal skills. I'm looking forward to working with him for the rest of my time on the board."

Ziolko agreed, saying Barron has been an essential part of the county's library system.

Ziolko says the library system is in great hands with Barron.

"We are fortunate that we have had Mr. Barron with us for the last 15 years and that he is going to be our new director," Ziolko said. "Mr. Barron has a passion for customer service and libraries as well as an excellent grasp of technology. He has been a central figure in the many technology upgrades, especially in the last five years. He was essential in the automation of our card catalog, has worked hard to obtain grants for us and he took care of getting ebooks for our county libraries."

Barron has been a part of the library system since 1999 when he became librarian for Osceola Public Library. In 2003, he was promoted to assistant director of the Mississippi County Library System, a position he has held for the past 11 years. Barron and his wife Carol are not natives to this area -- he is Moberly, Mo., and she is from Covington, Tenn. Although the two are not from here, Barron said in the past 15 years, Mississippi County has become their home.

"We like it here," Barron said. "Mississippi County is our home. There are a lot of good things about this area. It's that Southern culture where people are accepting, friendly and good to work with. There's a lot of pluses. Although we live in Osceola, I will be based in Blytheville when I become director. It is the population center of the county. I have a lot of friends in Osceola and I have many friends in Blytheville and I'm looking forward to making some new ones."

Barron's love of libraries started as child. He loved to read and says he grew up in the library, going there several times a week. Barron often participated in the summer program at his local library in Moberly. Throughout the years, he has worked in academic, public and school libraries. That love of reading and libraries is what led Barron to go back to school in 1996 to get his master's degree in library science. During his years as a college student, he worked for the Cincinnati Public Library. The big metropolitan library was Barron's introduction to how libraries function. He explained that the Cincinnati Public Library had lots of organization and departments with specialized people.

"It really was more like running a business," Barron explained. "There is just so much that goes into running an operation like that. I was a student at the time and worked in the shelving department. Students usually started out as shelvers or custodians. Being in the shelving department I got to see all the books as they came in and many of the books would be in closed stacks where the public couldn't go, so we would retrieve the books the public wanted. It was a good way of getting an understanding of the different subjects and classifications. They used the Dewey decimal system, which is what we use here in Mississippi County. So it really gave me a great grounding in that. A lot of times someone will ask for a certain subject of book and I know where to go to find it just because of my memory of the Dewey decimal system."

As Barron was getting ready to graduate from library school in Columbia, Mo., he and his wife Carol knew that they wanted to be somewhere that was between both of their families. Barron sent out resumes accordingly to libraries in Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee. He ended up coming to Mississippi County, which is located in between his and his wife's family making it a great location.

Something that is very important to Barron is serving in both local and state organizations to better understand the needs of not only Mississippi County, but Arkansas. By doing this, he is able to gain helpful contacts and learn about the issues that affect the citizens of the county. Barron is involved in the Arkansas Library Association, a regular attendee of the Arkansas State Library Children's Workshop, which is one place Barron gets ideas for the summer program, and is a graduate of the regional leadership program sponsored by Arkansas State University. He is also a graduate of both the Blytheville and Osceola leadership programs, which helped him get to know Mississippi County and Northeast Arkansas better. Barron is president of the board of the Mississippi County Literacy Council, President of the Mississippi County Interagency Council, vice president/president-elect of the Osceola South Mississippi County Chamber of Commerce, serves on the board of the South Mississippi County United Way and is a member of the Osceola Rotary Club. One organization he is very excited to be a part of is LeadAR, which is sponsored by the University of Arkansas. It is a program that meets for three days every other month throughout the state.

"It has really helped introduce me to other parts of Arkansas," Barron said. "I have been here 15 years and, because of LeadAR, I've gotten to go to towns I've never been to in my life. Part of each program is that we hear from local people about the things going on locally. We get to hear and see what impacts our state. Instead of just reading an article we have someone face to face telling us about it and we can ask questions."

Barron also said the Library System will continue to be customer-focused. He said the libraries are the information source of the county and want to continue to be that for years to come.

"The way we do that is by serving our patrons and providing the services they need," Barron said. "We work for the people of Mississippi County. They are our customers. I would like to say my door is open. I want people to let us know how we can best serve them. I have ideas as to what we can do and how, but I want to hear from the people. If you don't think you are being heard please come to me and we will do what we can to serve you. That is what we are here for. We work for you."