Please Welcome New MLS CEO Jason Kuhl

Hello everyone!

I wanted to take a quick moment to introduce myself and tell you how excited I am to be joining the team at MLS!  I've been through director transitions before, both as the incoming director and as a staff member at a library with a new director coming on, so I know how difficult they can be.  Since I won't be starting until after the new year, I wanted to be sure to touch base with you all and not remain a mystery until then.

On a personal level, my social media bios do a pretty good job of summing me up: 

"Father of two. Husband of one. Owner of many pairs of shoes. Tennis, books, libraries, art, music, old stuff, and a newly kindled love of bow ties." 

All of these things are true. My wife, who also happens to be a librarian, and I have two kids—a twelve-year-old son and a fourteen-year-old daughter—along with a tremendously spoiled four-year-old black lab named Otis (full name: Otis Moperandi).  I love music of all kinds and have played guitar since I was a teenager.  I've also been an avid tennis player for much of my life, and one of my first orders of business after I move will be to find a tennis club and a 4.0 level USTA team in need of another doubles player.  If you have any recommendations or know of a team, please pass them along.  The bow tie thing is a recent development.  Somewhere along the line, clothing and such became a bit of a hobby for me, and I discovered their appeal.  I haven't become a full "bow tie guy" just yet, but you'll definitely see me wearing them from time to time.

Professionally, I've worked in libraries for almost all of my adult life since taking a part-time job in the public library in my college town in 1994. Since starting that first job, I've been a shelver, worked circulation, been an acquisitions assistant, worked in a community college library, had an assistantship in the preservation department of a university library (nowhere near as cool as it sounds), and been a reference librarian, an assistant branch manager, and a branch manager in branches of various sizes.  I've been the manager of a reference department, an administrator over circulation, facilities, IT, and collection management, and MLS will be the third library system at which I've been executive director/CEO.

During my interview, I was asked about my vision for MLS, and I responded by saying that is the question I hate the most.  In hindsight, that was probably not the best way to answer an interview question.  Definitely don't recommend.  :-)  The reason, though, is that it operates on the assumption that one individual is responsible for unilaterally creating and applying a vision in an organization.  I don't think that's true.  While there are certain things that are important to me and that I believe to be fundamental when it comes to libraries, I believe we should have a shared, collective vision based on collaboration, input, and a thorough understanding of the things our communities need and where those needs overlap with the library's mission.  So, a lot of listening and learning is in order for me.

I have a habit of writing emails that are much too long, so I'll wrap this one up with a final thought and one last personal note.  We do important work in public libraries, and I take that work and my job seriously.  I don't, however, take myself seriously at all!  At the end of the day, we should all enjoy our jobs and have fun at work.  Despite the bow ties, I'm very casual and love to laugh and joke.  I have no problem embarrassing myself, and to prove it, attached is a picture of me in high school. 

As you can see, I was pretty cool.  For those of you of a less advanced age, that's an original NES, not some retro reissue!  That couch still exists in my mother's apartment, too.

Let me just say again how excited I am to join you all in January.  Until then, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] and tell me something about yourself if you'd like.