The New Canaan Library's newest executive director, Lisa Oldham, isn't yet sure what her first big project to undertake will be, but that's just fine. She hasn't been here all that long.
"I've only been here five days! This is my sixth," she said laughing during an interview Tuesday afternoon. "It's a bit too early for me to tell."
Oldham was in New Canaan for a whole 12 hours before she was involved in her first meeting, but she said those involved in her assimilation have made the process as smooth as possible.
"Everyone in town has been incredibly welcoming and friendly," she said. "It's a really delightful way to start a new venture."
Growing up in Dutchess County, NY, and with family in the states dating back "to the pilgrims," Oldham joins New Canaan most recently from the National Library of New Zealand, the equivalent of the United States' Library of Congress.
"Life has taken me on a path around the world," she said. "My husband's a New Zealander, but we'd been talking about moving back to the states. I saw the role advertised and, timing-wise, things lined up."
She called the New Canaan Library a "great, great community facility," and said she has a clear mandate from the board to "keep it a great facility for the next 25 years." It shouldn't be difficult for someone who approaches the job as a one of service.
"Libraries are very much about people," Oldham said. "It's a service organization. It serves people through the transmission of knowledge and ideas... The transmission of culture is what a library is all about."
Oldham, who has a Masters in Library Science from Florida State University, said the seed for her future was planted in her first year of university, where she was studying for a term at Vasser.
"I was trying to do these assignments on this vast campus and I couldn't find anything," she said. "I ended up going to the library information desk. The woman there, it was like if she were magic. In 15 minutes I'd found all the information I needed. Seeing her as this 'finder of information,' that helpfulness. Seeing her relentlessly helping until I found everything I needed. That's probably the first time I knew."
Oldham will be available to meet the community at the New Canaan Library's Annual Business Meeting Tuesday night at 7 p.m. All are welcome.
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