Carson City Library director becomes Nevada Library Association president-elect

Carson City Library Director Tod Colegrove is the new president-elect of the Nevada Library Association, voted in at the turn of the year and assuming his new role as president in 2021.

As the incoming president, Colegrove will serve on the NLA board as acting vice president and voting member of the board. He said he’s looking forward to working with the NLA leadership team to steer the association throughout the year and prepare for his work as president.

Colegrove also shared how having the Carson City Library director serve as the statewide leader helps make two important things happen; it shines a spotlight on the Carson City Library as a model for libraries around the state, and it will bring the NLA annual conference to Carson City next year.

“We all need folks to inspire us, and none of us have the resources to function on bigger levels alone,” said Colegrove, who’s also the former Nevada state librarian. “We have to work together, us librarians. Supporting one another professionally can help make sure the right things happen statewide.

The director added that just as the library’s close regional networks — who share books, CDs and other materials — amplify the impact any one library, alone, can have, the NLA connects and supports libraries and their staff in their profession. Connecting library supporters to one another and to the resources they need, he said, better enables their communities to thrive. According to Colegrove, that’s the fundamental business of libraries.

“I was surprised,” Colegrove said of being elected. “I’m truly honored, and look forward as we continue the work of improving Nevada’s libraries.”