For the first time since December 2020, the Ector County Library has a director.
Howard Marks began his new position on May 31.
Randy Ham, chairman of the Ector County Library Advisory Committee, lauded Marks’ experience with both academic and public libraries and his “great personality.”
“Howard exemplifies all of the good qualities of a leader,” Ham said. “Before he even put in his resume he went and spoke with the staff about their needs and he got a feel for the place. Not everyone would do that. He showed initiative and future thinking.”
Marks is taking the seat previously occupied by Rebbecca Taylor, who retired after 13 years as director.
Ham explained the committee was originally created to discuss the future of the aging three-story building on West Fifth Street. Ultimately, the committee decided after several months it needed to prioritize filling Taylor’s position, recognizing it would be hard to plan for and fund raise for a new library without a director.
The committee was getting ready to launch a regional and national search when Marks, who was the learning resource director at Midland College, reached out to him about the position, Ham said.
“He was local, which we loved and he has roots here, which we loved,” Ham said.
Marks already knew several members on the committee, himself included, he said.
Prior to working at Midland College, Marks spent four years as the library director at the University of Texas Permian Basin and he’d partnered with Odessa Arts on some projects, Ham said.
“He had developed relationships in the community on top of having management experience at both public and academic libraries,” Ham said. “He has also a progressive vision for the library that matched our vision.”
For example, Ham noted that Marks strongly believes the library needs to boost its Spanish offerings. Right now, less than 10% of the library’s books are in Spanish and yet Ector County boasts a Hispanic population of more than 60%.
In addition, Marks also recognizes the need to address the “technology gap” at the library, Ham said. The pandemic made it clear the library serves a vital role in providing internet access to those who don’t have access.
Despite the advent of “smartphones,” computers and tablets, Ham noted only 30% of the world’s information has been digitized so there there still exists a huge need for libraries, one of the last places people can visit for free.
Ham said the county asked The Ivy Group to conduct a six-month needs assessment for the library and the advisory committee. Town hall meetings were held and surveys were conducted and Marks will be presenting those findings to the commissioners toward the end of the month.
Marks hasn’t always worked in libraries.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications from San Francisco State and spent time in the advertising industry and as a copywriter. He worked in New York, Biloxi, Mississippi, St. Louis, Washington State and Dallas. Once he got to Dallas, he decided he wanted out of the unstable industry and took a “strong inventory test” which revealed he was suited to go into library science.
For the first time in his life, Marks said he starting scoring perfect marks while taking courses at the University of North Texas.
His first job in his new field was at Fort Worth Public Library.
“I took a real natural affinity to reference in answering reference questions at the front desk,” Marks said.
Marks, who eventually earned master’s degrees in library science and public administration, spent three years as the director of library services at Western Texas College in Snyder before heading to UTPB and later, Midland College.
While at UTPB, Marks said the library was renovated, an integrated library system was set up and other new technology was brought on board. At Midland College, he oversaw another renovation and helped created “Chap Chat,” an online resource that helped a great deal during the COVID shutdowns.
“I pretty much cut my chops at these places and then this job became open and I decided to apply and see what happened,” Marks said.
This summer’s reading program theme is “Oceans of Possibilities” and Marks believes the future of the library is filled with endless possibilities as well.
“What’s it going to look like for the next 30 years? We’re turning the page and starting a new chapter and I’m very excited by that prospect,” Marks said. “This is really the start of a new vision to rebuild and rebrand for the next stage with a more robust and user friendly layout and approach.”
The library already has a dedicated and helpful staff and he just hopes to build upon it, keeping in mind readers’ ever-changing needs, he said.
For example, the library currently has 200,000 print books and 20,000 e-books and he’d love to see even more, Marks said. He’d also like to purchase some Apple products, expand the library’s subscription-based services and offer more programming for seniors.
He’s also mulling over the possibility of creating an app-based check-out system, allowing food and drink in certain areas of the library and encouraging staff to wander around the library to see to patrons’ needs.
Among his other ideas? An artist residency program in partnership with Odessa Arts, the creation of a business center, dog friendly Fridays, instructional workshops, a Makerspace, bilingual story time, Wi-Fi upgrades and yoga classes.
While the community may one day have a new library building, Marks said they don’t have to wait for it to be built to make some of the changes.
In fact, there are spaces within the library that can be repurposed, he said.
Don’t expect to see too many changes right away, though.
“I decided for the first month, I’m not going to change anything. I’m just going to sit back and listen and learn and ask questions and read up. I want to talk to as many people as possible,” he said.
