Edgartown Public Library director Jill Dugas Hughes announced that she will retire effective August 30, 2015.
“I am committed to do everything within my power to make this transition go smoothly,” Ms. Hughes said in a letter to the board of trustees. “When I accepted this position, I made a commitment to the community to manage the library building project, from start to finish. I am fully committed to accomplishing this goal. To say that I will miss all of you and this community is an understatement. Please know that I will assist you in any way that I can to make sure that the community receives the best library possible.”
“Jill has been a true gift to the library,” board chairman Denise Searle said in an email to The Times. “There are few, if any, who could have stepped in during this time of dynamic change and managed to keep all facets of both the new and existing library functioning and moving in a positive direction.”
Ms. Hughes joined the Edgartown library as director in 2012, after serving as executive director of the Connecticut Library Consortium. “We wish her much happiness and success, and hope she will return many times in the days and years ahead to see the library she helped create, in full swing,” Ms. Searle said.
The board has established a search committee. Ms. Hughes will assist in the recruitment and identification of a new library director. “It’s not going to be an easy task to find someone with the skills and dedication Jill possesses; however, with her guidance and keen sense of what it takes to be successful, we are confident in finding a successor who will possess the experience, talent, and leadership skills necessary to move forward,” said trustee vice chairman Deanna Ahearn-Laird.
