Cathy Thorsen, the new Churchill County Library director, followed her professional dream of becoming a library director when she applied for the open position here in Churchill County. The fact that the library was located in a small town sealed the deal for her to apply for and accept the position.
“I lived in Laughlin, Nevada, and liked the peacefulness of this state,” she said, adding that she has family in Arizona, which also helped her decide to move further west than her native Nebraska.
A tried-and-true Cornhusker, Thorsen and her husband Chris, who is a Wyoming native, were drawn to this small desert community for the next stage of their lives. “Churchill County was the right place at the right time for us,” she said.
One of her first orders of business from the Library Board of Trustees was to reopen the library on Mondays to give the public access six days a week. The library’s new permanent hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on Sundays and most federal and state holidays.
Thorsen believes consistency of hours and staff is vital to a successful library and is already working hard to guarantee that for Churchill County patrons.
“We will start slow and maintain consistency in the public eye. I want to increase programming and outreach while providing a consistent and reliable model. Stability and reliability are really important to build up our services for the public.”
She has already participated in several outreach efforts, including Churchill County High’s career fair. She also wants to provide device training for cell phones, computers, and similar technology.
She said she appreciates the opportunity to be the director of a clean, welcoming library with supportive patrons and is thankful to the community for the warm welcome.
Thorsen comes to Fallon from the Mohave County Library in Kingman, Arizona, where she served as library services manager, handling all aspects of library branch management, including facilities management, budgets, and selecting, training, supervising, and evaluating staff.
Before her position in Arizona, she worked as a youth services manager at a library in Papillion, Nebraska. She also serves as an adjunct instructor at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, for a Capstone course in Library Science practicum every semester. She will continue to teach this course from Fallon.
Thorsen earned her master’s degree in elementary education (early childhood) and a bachelor’s degree in library science from the University of Nebraska, Omaha, before entering the workforce in library management.
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