Janet Witten Conn was recently named the new director of the New Martinsville Public Library. She comes to the position following the retirement of long-time employee and director Barbara “Babs” Stewart.

Witten Conn is no stranger to libraries, but admits she has never worked in West Virginia before. In the short time she has been in New Martinsville, Witten Conn, who resides in Sardis, has been busy acquainting herself with the facility and has attended three state workshops to help her in her job.

“I’ve picked up several tips and ideas, particularly on Chapter 10 of the West Virginia Code that relates to libraries, spelling out rules and laws concerning operations,” she said. “I was also able to meet a lot of other library directors, and I think this will be beneficial to me.”

She comes to her new position with a wide variety of library experience. She has a master’s degree in library science from the University of Kentucky. In addition, she recently served as director of the Dally Library in Sardis, has worked at other public and school libraries, has volunteered as a church librarian, and worked in book stores.

“I’ve always loved books,” she said. “I wanted to be a librarian since I was in the ninth grade.”

She plans to upgrade the New Martinsville facility in several areas.

“I think you’ll see more programming for adults and children,” Witten Conn continued. “We’ll be adding DVDs and upgrading our movies, things like that.”

“Our biggest project will be getting all our collection in the computer. People will be able to go in and see what we have. That is our first priority,” she added. “That will improve service to the patrons.”