Libraries, Leadership, and a Big Picture Mindset

My guest today is Crystal Gates! Crystal serves as the Executive Director of the William F. Laman Public Library in North Little Rock, Arkansas. She is building upon their past successes with innovative, patron-centric services, and relevant curriculum and resources.

Crystal also served as Director of the Jackson Parish Library in Jonesboro, Louisiana. Under her leadership, JPL was named one of the best libraries in the nation as a 3 Star Library two years in a row (2014 and 2015 Library Journal Index of Public Library Services).

Gates has a long history of leading by serving both professionally and in civic organizations. She is a fellow Past-President of the Arkansas Library Association, President-Elect of the Southeastern Library Association, Treasurer for the advocacy group Advocates for All Arkansas Libraries, and serves in many other roles as well. As a speaker at library conferences, Crystal shares both her successes and lessons learned from implementing new services, directing capital projects, and advocating for libraries.

Crystal holds a Masters of History from Louisiana Tech University and a Master of Library and Information Science from Louisiana State University.