Howard County Library System President and CEO Tonya Aikens always wanted to learn about others and connect with people. The library offered the perfect space to be immersed in her community in ways she never thought of.
Aikens was enthralled by reading from an early age, going to the library with her siblings and her mother, who was an early educator. Working at the local library was her first part-time job in high school. From there, she worked her way through school libraries, led other public libraries, and in 2018, she took the helm of Howard County’s library system, which she said is among the leading libraries in North America.
Libraries serve the community, Aikens said, and it’s the community that’s at the center of her work. Through a new strategic plan, she’s striving to ensure that residents know the library is their space to glean resources.
Some residents might not have the same access to the library as others, Aikens said, and her goal is for everyone to feel connected. One step was revamping signage across the board to make the library less intimidating.
“And so I think it’s that level of personalization that I want to make sure is flowing through everything that we do, that level of collaboration, that level of responsiveness, so that literally every single community member can say, ‘Howard County Library System is my place to learn, grow, connect. I feel it. I belong. It is there for me. It’s mine,’ ” Aikens said.
