Ebba Hierta to retire as Chilmark library director

After nearly two decades of leading the Chilmark Free Public Library, Ebba Hierta will be retiring as the up-Island library’s director. 

According to a Wednesday press release from the library, Hierta will be retiring on July 1, and handing over the reins to Ruth Konigsberg, a reference librarian at the Vineyard Haven Public Library.

“It’s been quite a ride,” Hierta said in the release. “I’m beyond grateful to the library patrons, staff, trustees, and Friends of the Chilmark Library for the support and camaraderie I’ve felt over these nearly two decades. And I have to tip my hat one more time to my predecessor, Cathy Thompson, who began the transition to Library 2.0, and overcame incredible odds to get our beautiful building constructed.”

Hierta has pushed the library through various transitional periods since 2006. The release states she led the Chilmark library to digitize its resources and join the CLAMS network, the Cape and Islands library consortium, in 2012 — critical to getting online services like free national newspaper access and online language learning. She also needed to work to continue providing services to patrons during the COVID pandemic and later making a safe reopening. The release says the library’s circulation has increased 31 percent above prepandemic levels. 

“Her steady leadership has taken the library through some challenging times, but more significantly, she has stewarded an important period of growth and development for the library,” Kaila Allen-Posin, chair of the Chilmark Library Trustees, said in the release. “We wish her much health and happiness in her retirement.” 

The trustees began a regional search for a new director in February, whittling down 16 applicants to three finalists, who were “interviewed in public sessions, attended by Chilmark select board members, trustees, and community members, including youth representatives.” That ended up in the hiring of Konigsberg, who is familiar with the Island and its residents, which the trustees expressed excitement about in the release. 

“I’m so thrilled to [be] joining the great team at the Chilmark library,” Konigsberg said. “I look forward to working with them as well as the board of trustees and all the residents of Chilmark to meet the community’s needs and help create a strategic plan for the library’s future.”

Konigsberg is a journalist turned librarian who has dedicated herself to “championing youth literacy, information integrity, and lifelong learning.” She was the founding editor of TIME’s digital opinions section, and held editor positions at several other large publications, such as New York magazine. She’s also written for the New York Times, and she reviewed middle-grade fiction for the publication. Additionally, Konigsberg is the author of a 2011 book titled “The Truth about Grief.” 

Before coming to the Vineyard, Konigsberg was a young adult librarian at the Pelham Public Library in New York. She is a recent graduate of the Queens College’s School of Library and Information Science, where she was awarded the Ellen Libretto and Adam Conrad Scholarship for independent research in youth literacy.