Eileen Sullivan/Courtesy photo
COUNTY NEWS RELEASE
Eileen Sullivan, library manager of the Los Alamos County Library System since July 2017, will be retiring on June 24. A resident of New Mexico since 1987, Eileen has more than 35 years of experience working in academic, special, and public libraries as well as experience in the field of telemedicine. Prior to moving to Los Alamos, she was the director of the Silver City Public Library in Silver City. Eileen was the president of the librarians’ sub-section of the New Mexico Municipal League and served on the board of the New Mexico Library Foundation.
“It was an honor to serve the community of Los Alamos as library manager. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such a professional and dedicated staff,” said Eileen.
She takes pride in the library system’s many accomplishments over the past five years: launching new early literacy programs such as 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten and Cover to Cover; completing several building improvements; improving the online catalog with the addition of a kid’s catalog and other features; upgrading hardware and software; replacing outdated self-checks; launching an online meeting room reservation program; and completing a major AV upgrade for the meeting rooms at Mesa.
Under Eileen’s leadership, library staff rose to the challenges presented by COVID and adapted library services to meet community needs. The library increased access to digital content, developed and delivered a wide range of virtual and outdoor programming for children and adults, adapted adult and children’s summer reading programs for an online environment, and provided a curbside service.
Upon retirement, Eileen, who has a Bachelor of Music in violin performance in addition to a Master of Library and Information Science degree, plans to return to teaching violin and traditional Irish fiddle out of her home studio in Albuquerque. “As much as I will miss my colleagues and library career, I am excited about this next adventure,” Eileen said. She plans to spend time in Ireland learning from folk musicians and poking around in music archives.
Eileen will be dearly missed, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors.