Chrissie Evaskis-Garrett Chosen as East Lansing Public Library Director

The East Lansing Public Library Board of Trustees held final interviews for the library director position on Wednesday before selecting Chrissie Evaskis-Garrett for the role.

Evaskis-Garrett has served as the library’s interim director since late July, following the resignation of former Director Kevin King. She was selected over two other finalists, after a pool of 41 applicants was narrowed down.

Final interviews lasted around 45 minutes each. Candidates were asked the same 10 questions pertaining to topics like library leadership, operational management and equity. 

Before taking over as interim director, Evaskis-Garrett spent 20 months as ELPL’s collections team leader, curating collections like the Library of Things, Community Language collection and Maker collection.

Prior to working in East Lansing, Evaskis-Garrett worked at Jackson District Library as the adult services librarian, helping with legal expungement, providing tech assistance and aiding with government record retrieval, according to a biography provided by library board President Ameenah Asante.

Evaskis-Garrett concluded her interview by saying, “Thank you for the opportunity to be the interim director of the East Lansing Public Library. If nothing else, it has been an exceedingly formative part of my career.” 

As library director, Evaskis-Garrett will be ELPL’s top employee, helping to manage the budget and oversee initiatives like the library’s recently developed youth behavioral improvement plan.

The other finalists were Carrie Bickner, who worked at the New York Public Library for a decade, and Ann Neff-Rohs, who is the director of collections at the Grand Rapids Public Library.