FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robyn Truslow
410-535-0291
After an illustrious 28-year career with Calvert Library, director Patricia Hofmann is retiring. She has built the small community library system into a powerhouse recognized at the state level as pioneering and customer-focused.
Her first professional position was as a special librarian for an engineering firm. After she married and moved to Pennsylvania she became the director of the Mill Memorial Library in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. There she discovered a love for running public libraries. Soon after her family moved to Calvert (June, 1985), Calvert Library advertised for a Reference Supervisor and it was a perfect match.
Hofmann’s leadership and commitment to customer service was evident immediately and in early 1988, she was appointed Branch Chief of Prince Frederick. Two years later she was named Assistant Director for Calvert Library under the tri-county director Kitty Hurrey. In 1995, it was decided that each county should have their own director and Hofmann was selected and has served in that capacity for the last 18 years.
Calvert Library has chronicled their history through booklets celebrating important anniversaries and in each of these, one theme is obvious—a commitment to customers. Hofmann has exemplified and mandated that commitment which becomes obvious when one examines customer survey results. The most frequent answer to the biennial question, “What is the best thing about Calvert Library?” is overwhelmingly “the staff.”
Hofmann has accomplished a great deal for the Calvert community in her tenure including the Calvert Library Prince Frederick building, pioneering the circulation of pre-loaded ereaders to customers (one of the first libraries in the nation to do so), increasing circulation to over one million items a year since 2008, and assisting with the renovation of Fairview and Twin Beaches branches in the 1990’s and most recently, tripling the size of the Southern Branch. Recognized as a library visionary, Hofmann has also brought acclaim for Calvert at the state level through such activities as reorganizing the structure and curriculum of the Library Associates Training Institute to be more effective, serving on the Maryland eContent Advisory Committee to foster collaboration and bring Maryland cutting-edge ideas regarding ebooks and advocating for libraries at the state and national level.
When asked which of her accomplishments she is most proud of, she doesn’t hesitate. “My staff’s reputation for excellent customer service.” Robbie McGaughran, whose multiple roles include staff development, can vouch for Hofmann’s commitment, “Pat takes training very seriously. She seeks funding from multiple sources, lobbies to make expert, high-level training accessible to our staff, encourages conference attendance, develops in-house training when the perfect training doesn’t already exist and just generally makes sure that her staff are thoroughly equipped to provide an exceptionally high level of service.” Joanie Kilmon, Twin Beaches Branch manager, describes Pat’s commitment to a well-trained staff, “Pat has always been keenly aware of emerging trends and has known how to tap into what the latest and greatest in libraryland was going to be. She has stayed on top of technology and encouraged her staff to keep up-to-date so we could provide what our customers wanted. She balances high tech with high touch.”
Calvert Library has received statewide recognition for the quality of their staff over the years. Three times, the state has done a statewide reference survey where a “secret shopper” came to the library asking for help. The purpose of the project was to find out whether Model Reference Training resulted in customers having their questions completely answered. The result was Calvert Library was named the “Highest Performing Library System” in the state.
Hofmann’s commitment to excellent customer service is apparent to every visitor to the library. Her commitment to early education and literacy is evident even outside the library. Calvert County has reason to be very proud of our school system…by many measures, the best in the country. Some of that success can be attributed to the great start children in our community get in their preschool years through Calvert Library initiatives. Hofmann served on the board for United Way’s Success by Six, an initiative to make certain that children enter school ready to learn and ready to be successful in school. Hofmann made certain that the library was an integral partner in the Annie E. Casey Southern Maryland Leadership in Action program, a multi-agency collaboration to improve school-readiness. According to Bev Allyn Izzi, Youth Coordinator for Calvert Library, “Prior to this program, only 48% of children entering Calvert kindergartens were ‘ready to learn,’” Now, 85% meet this criteria. Every child matters and when we improve school readiness, our whole community benefits.” Calvert Library offers more storytime sessions per week than any other library system in the state. Those storytime sessions help children develop large motor skills through dancing and motions related to a story, hone fine motor skills through crafts, improve socialization skills like how to listen and behave in a group setting, explore science and math concepts, and of course, foster a love of reading. Under Hofmann’s leadership, Calvert Library is receiving statewide acclamation for a new initiative of Izzi’s, 500 by Five. This project encourages parents to read five hundred books to their child before they reach the age of five. According to Hofmann, “The research is clear that reading to young children has a tremendous positive impact for a child. Five hundred books sounds like a lot until you realize that just attending library storytime for your child’s preschool years or just reading two books at bedtime for a year accomplishes it!”
Hofmann also formalized and fortified the library’s partnership with the Calvert County Public Schools. Through the Calvert Library Assists School Success (CLASS) partnership, the library visits all first, fourth, sixth and eighth grades. Elementary school students have the opportunity to take advantage of embedded Calvert librarians through a project called Lunch Bunch where librarians bring book discussions with fun activities to schools during their lunch break. Middle and high school students are supported through such events as workshops to help with the History Fair. Hofmann has a love of history and was actually one of the founding members of the History Fair when she was a member of the Heritage committee. When Calvert County celebrated the 350th anniversary, Hofmann put together a very well-received speakers’ series focusing on a dozen local history topics.
Calvert Library also offers other frequent workshops and events to supplement lessons at school, including living history presentations, STEM activities, film discussions and more. And when school is out? Research has made it clear that children need to keep their brains active over the summer in order not to backslide so Calvert Library offers incentives and engaging activities to keep students reading through June, July and August. The library used to have limited hours over the summer but Hofmann worked to get funding so that all Calvert Library locations could be open 61 hours per week throughout the year.
It isn’t just education for young people that Hofmann is committed to. She was one of the early members of the Calvert Literacy Council and later secured a grant to provide a collection of materials for adult new readers. Hofmann sought other grants for items that she considered “gaps in service.” A favorite was a grant to provide pre-loaded ereaders for customers to check out. Often, if grants aren’t available, needed “extras” are funded by the Calvert Library Foundation which Hofmann helped form after a customer made a $10,000 donation. The Foundation was able to do significant fundraising to provide the special touches in the Prince Frederick building and all the furnishings in the new Interim Southern Branch.
Hofmann’s commitment to her community doesn’t just mean Calvert, she is committed to her library community as well. Starting with taking care of her own staff and going all the way up to representing Maryland libraries at the national level as an American Library Association Councilor, Hofmann has proven her devotion. Whether it’s ensuring that all her staff receive health benefits or making sure there is funding to support staff pursuing degrees, she has earned her staff’s loyalty. It is such a high priority for the system that the question, “How have you demonstrated that you care about the people who work for you?” was included as one of four questions in the initial application process for the next director.
True to form, Hofmann notes, “I am so proud of my team for coming up with such great ideas. Staff projects such as storytime-to-go kits, history fair workshops, lunch bunch book discussions at elementary schools, Calvert Conversations…they all highlight literacy and community and bring the library mission to life. I often get the credit for building a fabulous library system but that belongs to my staff.”
Sheila Hejl, retired Information Services Coordinator and branch manager, would not be surprised by Pat’s statement. “Pat Hofmann was never an ‘I’ or a ‘me’ leader. Everything she did was for the library and the library community. She allowed staff to shine. She wanted each of us to be our very best. We were encouraged to develop our strengths and talents. She knew that if we were skilled then the community would benefit from our expertise. That support made my career a pleasure rather than a job.”
Fortunately, one of the many things that Hofmann has trained her staff on was “change.” She has been with Calvert Library through the first computer used exclusively as a digital encyclopedia, to the barcoding of books so that the library could move from a physical card catalog to an online catalog, to the need to teach customers about library databases as more reliable than google searches, to ebooks for library customers. When asked how her retirement will impact the library, Hofmann says with a laugh, “It’ll be great. The library staff thrives on change. I just hope they’ll miss me…just a little!”
Her coordinators, whose desks are right outside of Hofmann’s office are less sanguine about it. According to Robyn Truslow, Public Relations Coordinator, “Pat has encouraged an environment that embraces change, a culture of cooperation and vision, true teamwork. Her door is always open and throughout the day, she will ask us to take a look at an article she is forwarding, or join her for a brainstorming session. She is a visionary who truly inspires and motivates and there is always a sense of excitement about what might be next.” Robbie McGaughran, Adults Resources and Staff Development Coordinator agrees, “She is our leader, mentor and collaborator. Pat comes to work every day invigorated and ready to tackle new and challenging endeavors. We are really going to miss her!”
Kip Hine, President of the Board of Library Trustees said, "During a time of rapid population growth and over her 28 years with us, Pat has built one of the strongest library systems in Maryland as well as a first class staff. Her talent and energy has been recognized statewide and she was elected ALA Councilor from Maryland. She leaves a positive legacy, not only for the citizens of Calvert County but Maryland libraries in general through her work with the Library Associate Training Institute. She will, to use the old show business phrase, be a tough act to follow.”
So what does Hofmann think about retiring? “Robyn and I always argue about which of us really has the ‘best job in the world’ but I know it’s me. My staff and this community have made my job a joy. I think it’s only fair to let someone else have a turn! I am looking forward to traveling, gardening and oh yeah, you guessed it…reading! Libraries are in my blood so I’m sure I will stay active at the state level. You have heard about everyone having a ‘third place’…the first one is home, the second is work and the third is somewhere you get your sense of community…the library is that for so many in our community. It is certainly my ‘third place’ and that won’t change with retirement.”
For more information, call the Calvert Library Prince Frederick at 410-535-0291 or 301-855-1862 or check the website at calvert.lib.md.us.
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Robyn Truslow
Public Relations Coordinator
Calvert Library
850 Costley Way
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
410-535-0291
410-535-3022 Fax
rtruslow@somd.lib.md.us
