Trussville library ‘ideal spot’ for new director

Twenty years ago, Jason Baker drove to Trussville.

Baker was not yet in college to become a librarian, but it was a path he would ultimately pursue.

“I saw this place nestled in these trees out here in the [Cahaba] Project and I was like, ‘That’s an ideal little spot,’” Baker said. “I had no idea [I’d be the director here]. Years later, I saw the Adult Services job and I was like, ‘Let’s try that.’”

Baker was approved by the Trussville City Council on Dec. 8 to be the next director of the Trussville Public Library, succeeding the retiring Emily Tish. His first day was Jan. 2. Baker was hired as the Adult Services librarian in 2009 and was promoted to assistant director in 2013. Prior to coming to Trussville, he worked at UAB’s Lister Hill Library.

“It feels good,” Baker said. “My goal is to help all the departments and the [Library] Board take this place where they want it to go.”

Baker said he will focus on planning and reflecting on what the library does well to establish a direction in which to move.

“The thing that I think that we do the best, honestly, is it’s a personable library,” he said. “[Citizens] know the circulation staff and they know the departmental staff. They have relationships with them. It’s very one-to-one.”

Baker, before studying to become a librarian, spent time in the Peace Corps from 1997-2000, serving as an English language volunteer in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. He traveled to schools and helped the teachers with ways to include English in all subjects. He also helped with youth camps.

“It was pretty great. I recommend it to any young person getting out of school and looking for something to do,” Baker said. “One, you get a pretty good experience of what life is like outside of your bubble, and people learn a lot about us. It’s not uncommon to run into people who I’m sure now more than ever think everybody lives like the Kardashians or something like that.”

While in the Peace Corps, Baker often ran, something he continued once he returned to the United States for college. He ran through the streets of Auburn before discovering trail running. He ran 50K races for fun. He ran in the Mount Mitchell Challenge, a 40-mile race in North Carolina widely regarded as one of the most difficult trail runs in the U.S.

As a librarian who enjoys running, the inclination would be for a favorite book to be “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall or “Once a Runner” by John L. Parker Jr. Baker, however, said the book he has read multiple times and will again is “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a family saga that has magical realism and fluctuations in time. One of the book’s main ideas is to reflect reality not as its experienced by one observer, but as it is individually experienced by observers with different backgrounds. These days, many work their way to reach the pinnacle of their professions, to move to the big cities or to the top of large companies.

“In public librarianship, [being a library director] is essentially top of the heap other than going to something like state librarian for Alabama Public Library Service or something like that, or a bigger system,” Baker said. “I didn’t set out in the field to become director of the [Birmingham Public Library] or a Nashville or an Atlanta. That’s so far removed from what an actual end-user experience is in the library. I’m sure it’s very rewarding, but that’s a different kind of person.”

Baker is looking forward to the opportunity to lead the Trussville Public Library. He thought of this place as an “ideal little spot” in 2001, and 20 years later he still does.

“I’m really happy to have the opportunity to be director here for as long as the Board wants, and continue the good work and continue to grow the library into a service that the people in Trussville can love and appreciate,” he said.