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An interview with Shawn Flecken.
I once again put on my metaphorical reporters cap on, as I made the long journey across the hall to Shawn Flecken's office, our deputy director and my direct supervisor. I was conducting an interview on his 10 years here working for the county.
How long have you worked for the county?
It'll be 10 years on April 11th.
You've worked for libraries longer than that, right?
Yes, I have for almost 25 years. Prior to Pinal County I worked at Maricopa Library District, and prior to that, Pima County Public Library.
What got you into working for libraries?
I was an English Lit Major as an undergrad, so I spent a lot of time in libraries. I liked that. But going back even earlier than that, I can remember when I was a little kid, growing up poor in Western New York, in a steel town, [during] the early 80s, late 70s. I can remember going to the public library and doing a play. It was pretty cool. It was one of the very few things I was able to do as a little kid that was fun. That gave me good vibes about libraries when I was very small.
Another thing I liked about libraries, is that they are everywhere. Most towns, certainly most cities, have a public library. If you can be a public librarian, you can take those skills, at least at the time, pretty much anywhere.
What are some of the major changes that happened while you worked here?
The library district has radically changed. When I came here we were an administrative office providing services to independently operated libraries. In the last five years, we've opened a library and took over a library. Now we have our own operations and lots of the internal organization has changed to reflect that. [We have] a lot more staff and they all work in the libraries.
The person who did our outreach in the past used to be sort of outreach to other library staff. Now they are doing programs, as you are well aware.
This brings a laugh out of me, as in fact, I was aware.
And it's all like that. Everything we did was focused towards the libraries doing all the work. We were [just] assisting them and providing the technical stuff. Now we have operational capacity and are becoming a more operative piece in the picture of librarianship in the county.
We begin to talk about me trying to edit this segment into one brief sentence, something that makes us laugh. As you, the reader can see, I failed. although, the full version does more justice to the answer than anything I could have condenced it to.
Do you think the public perception has changed of Library District while you've been here?
It's difficult to know in terms of places like Casa Grande, Maricopa or Apache Junction where they are their own mostly independent operations and they have their own marketing. I don't really get to see much of that. However, I think the perception has changed in the time I've been in librarianship. I think the people who still think of libraries as just a place to get books are people who haven't [really] used libraries.
People using libraries, we have about 90,000 across the county, are well aware of the digital collections, the story times, the wide array of programs [we offer]. We're almost more about trying to reach out to the communities now than we are about being a curator of reading materials to people. And people are seeing that.
What are some things you have grown to love working here?
It's allowed me to move to Florence at the edge of the historic district, and I really love this town. It has a nice beautiful walking area. Most of the county buildings are a walk away from here as well. So the whole thing allows me to leave my car parked in the carport most of the time. That's the kind of lifestyle you can get in a city, but without having to be surrounded by millions of people.
One of the things I really like about working in the Library District in particular, is this office is a small team. That is the kind of organization I work best in. When we are sort of collaborative and everyone has their [work]. The supervisors have respect for you as a professional. They encourage and support you with the resources you might need. I thought that this was a really nurturing environment when I was a librarian, and now that I am an administrator, I am really happy to bring that to other people.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you faced while working here?
The three years from 2021 to 2024. When the pandemic hit and everything shut down, for public libraries that was a big hit. We had to figure out ways to [operate] by doing things like curbside pickup. We had to coordinate how we spread information around in the catalogue and the website like we are open here these days, come here to do reservations. We had to do all that stuff when it all shut down. And during that time, the director when I was here, retired. So the deputy director moved up and I became the deputy director. When we began to reopen up again, we reopened San Tan, and tried to reopen Arizona City Library but [the new director] decided to retire too. That took away 40 years of institutional memory, including the setup for all the ILS, Integrated Library Software, for us. There was just too much to do to keep everything going the way it should and I know it aversely affected operations of our libraries and the services we were able to provide.
I would say that was the most challenging thing I have faced. But on the positive side, the people in this office and all of the library staff, everybody was really really supportive and understanding of the situation. I do appreciate the camaraderie and the help to rally me up in the face of the challenge.
If you could go back 10 years and give yourself advice, what would it be?
When I look back I followed a pretty good path, so its not like I would give myself a warning to do something different. What I might tell myself is that "you'll be surprised how quickly things will change. When the change comes it'll come fast."
Is there anything you would like to share with the community?
I recently got back into playing my harmonica. I've been playing karaoke nights, and have connected up with some people. I'm coming back out as a singer and performer, and have met up with like minded people and began to float the idea of trying to make a Florence community theater with a stage where performances like bands or open mics may be done. I don't mind putting out the idea, maybe people might see [this] and be like "Yeah! That's a good idea!".
What's something you would say to fellow library staff across Pinal County? Any advice to them if they are looking to make library work their long term career?
Librarianship in Arizona is a small world. I would first say try not to burn any bridges. But also, remember the people you meet. Make those connections, because you will see them over and over again. As you try to move up, you will maybe encounter them on the other side of the interview table.
Another thing I want to convey is, and I'll point this back to the HR director when I was starting at Pima County, said "In regards to upward mobility, the operative part is mobility." Librarianship is small, but each library is very small. As you want to go higher and higher, there's only a few positions. The higher you want to go, the more mobile you need to be.
What is your favorite book?
I wrote a book, so look me up. Shawn Flecken you will find it. Anyway, I am a huge fan of the sci-fi and philosophy author Robert Anton Wilson's Prometheus Rising. And for fiction, I would say the Illuminatus! Trilogy. But probably the greatest piece of literature for how open it is to interpretation is Hamlet, by William Shakespeare.
What is your favorite movie?
I'm a big Cary Grant fan. There's a movie with her and Audrey Hepburn, Charade. Also, Wait Until Dark.
I know some of our younger readers might be curious. What is your favorite Marvel/Disney movie?
I really liked Avengers: Age of Ultron. Ultron has always been one of my favorite bad guys, going all the way back to the comics. And Avengers have always been my jam.
What is something you are looking forward to?
Season 2 of Daredevil.
This elicits a laugh out of us. We then get off topic talking about the release date for season 2.
In the library district, I would like to see us use some more remote technologies to provide some points of services where there are some pretty good sized communities but they are not incorporated as towns, so having libraries operated there is harder to do. The people there are entitled to the services, so it would be great if we could have pickup lockers and a bookmobile. That's something I have been looking forward to myself. And the County's cellular buildout project has been underway a long time now. There's a couple of towers that have gone up. Ultimately it would allow for high speed internet access across the whole county. When that is in place we can have the remote pickup lockers, where you scan your barcode and pickup your hold and place your book returns in. It would be nice to have some level of service like that.
Is there anything you would like to add?
After some joking about villain monologues, carving the moon with lasers and patio furniture, we continue.
Libraries are unique institutions within our society, and within our government. I think it's very cool that we as a society have decided that we value the ability for anybody to learn anything they need to about something if they feel they need to. It's cool that we as a people say we are going to invest in this, have this there for people, so when something happens, they have a place to turn. It's empowering to everyone. That's why I love libraries.
We would like to thank Shawn for his years of serving the community, and for allowing me to interview him. If you have yet to visit one of our booths, we recommend doing so. You can interact with the Library District this way, or you can see how we support your local libraries by visiting your favorite one. And if you happen to see Shawn out playing his harmonica or around the County, be sure to say hi and congratulate him for his 10 years of incredible service.
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