COLRAIN — Griswold Memorial Library is looking for a new leader.

Director Chelsea Jordan-Makely will step down from her position at the end of August to pursue a doctorate at Simmons University, where she has been selected as the Dean’s Fellow for Data/Information Analysis. She will conduct research on library services for incarcerated communities. To replace her, the library’s board of trustees is seeking a new part-time director and will be accepting applications until July 21.

“She’s been amazing and we’re so grateful we’ve had six years of her leadership,” trustee Nancy Turkle said.

“Chelsea brought heart, vision and deep integrity to her role as director,” Dago Driggs, co-chair of the board of trustees, said in a statement. “Her leadership helped brighten Griswold Memorial Library as a beacon of creativity and care — both locally and beyond. While we’re sad to see her go, we’re incredibly proud of her next chapter and confident the library will continue to grow in strength and purpose.”

Jordan-Makely said she has loved her time in Colrain and she will miss the town.

“I feel so lucky to have been a part of the legacy of the Griswold Memorial Library and participate in the community,” Jordan-Makely said.

One of her favorite memories during her leadership of the library was traveling to Washington D.C., where she grew up, to be presented with the 2024 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the highest honor a library can be awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

“That will always be a special memory. The Griswold Memorial Library was the first Massachusetts library to receive that medal and it may be the last, because the big, beautiful bill calls for the dismantling of the IMLS,” Jordan-Makely said.

She added that she has loved the day-to-day work at the library, meeting its patrons and adapting the library’s collection and programming to suit patrons’ wants and needs.

During her six years as director of Griswold Memorial Library, the library has implemented new programs and events such as the Carol Purington Poetry Collective, William Apess Day and story walks at Pine Hill Orchards, as well as pop-up library days at the Transfer Station and partnerships with other libraries and organizations throughout Franklin County.

Jordan-Makely said she is particularly proud of her partnership with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and their work to bring library services to those who are incarcerated, including through a program that allows inmates to read books to their children.

She said inmates need access to books, information and everything else that libraries have to offer, just as much, if not more, than people who are not incarcerated.

“Just because they go away doesn’t mean they’re not still our patrons and need information,” Jordan-Makely said.

Turkle added that Jordan-Makely was “a lifeline” for the library during the pandemic and helped the trustees develop a strategic plan, which they will continue to use.

“She led us through developing a five-year strategic plan and we’ve really used that as our guiding light for everything we do,” Turkle said.

Turkle said as the trustees look for the next library director, they will be looking for someone who continues to build upon the programs and services Jordan-Makely started, and a person who is also “welcoming, inclusive and supportive.”

The Griswold Memorial Library director position is a 28-hour-per-week, salaried job, offering $42,000 and benefits.

The library director is responsible for overseeing daily operations, managing library staff, coordinating programs and activities, and collaborating with the board of trustees and the Town Administrator’s Office to develop and manage the library’s budget.

Turkle said applications are due July 21 and the trustees hope to have a new director starting at the beginning of September. However, if there are delays, the board is confident that library staff will be able to handle the responsibilities for a brief period, so the trustees are not seeking an interim director.

Jordan-Makely said that being a library director, particularly in Colrain, is a great job. She advises her successor to take the time to enjoy all the different tasks and duties that come along with the job, from managing acquisitions for the collection to planning events and programming. She added that the new director should get to know the patrons, as spending time with community members was one of her favorite parts of the position.

“One of the great things about public librarianship is the variety of it,” Jordan-Makely said. “There were many highlights. I loved helping people connect with the community and with their love of reading.”

Applications can be emailed to griswoldmemorialtrustees@gmail.com. A job description can be found at colrain-ma.gov/n/28789/Library-Director-Search-Underway-Job-DescriptionDetails.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.