Under Martino’s direction, the library system expanded into the county with more library locations, which he oversaw the development and completion of, such as opening and moving the Village Branch to the new Southgate Branch location, opening the new Tuttle and Northridge branches, and opening the Bookmobile and outreach department.
He also helped encourage and foster community partnerships, as well as helped grow and diversity programs and technology offerings.
The library now has an adult programming specialist, patron advocate and translator, which Peck said has allowed them to meet user needs in different ways, and they have an online booking software for community rooms, a WhisperRoom Recording Booth and Wi-Fi hotspots available for check-out.
“Through offering more in the way of programming options for adults — everything from art classes to square dancing demos and documentary film showings, to our patron advocate being able to connect people in our community with available resources, such as housing and mental health services, and our translator — has been able to help new residents in our community to get them connected with resources available locally,” she said.
The Board of Trustees President Walt Szczesny thanked Martino.
“The board would like to thank Bill for his leadership during his tenure as director and for helping to make this a great library system,” Szczesny said.
Board Member Lisa Henry said Martino has been an asset to the library.
“The library has grown and made a positive impact on the Springfield and Clark County community under his leadership. It has been a pleasure, as a board member, to work with Bill. I am sorry to see him leave but wish him all the best in this new chapter of his life,” Henry said.
Matt Naylor, the library’s assistant director and systems coordinator, was appointed by the board of trustees to take over as interim director. He has worked for the library system for 23 years in a variety of roles, including IT department manager and systems coordinator, a role he still holds.
“I am confident that Matt will do a great job going forward. His IT background will be crucial as library trends begin to shift to more of an online presence,” Martino said.
Naylor said he’s honored to step into his new interim role where he will “support our dedicated staff and uphold our commitment to exceptional customer service.”
“During this transition, I look forward to working collaboratively with staff to advance key initiatives and ensure that the Clark County Public Library remains a vital asset to our community,” he said.
Before becoming CCPL director, Martino was the director of the Holmes County District Public Library from February 2011 to May 2018. Before that, he held other positions in library administration, including executive director of the Northeast Ohio Regional Library System, director of Minerva Public Library and assistant director at the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.
Along with his work with libraries, Martino taught classes in history at Kent State University in the early 1990s through May 2018.
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