After 32 years, Barrington library director to retire

In more than 30 years as the Barrington Area Library's executive director, Barbara Sugden has seen plenty of changes.

She led the library's move from Hough Street to its current home on Northwest Highway and has spent decades making sure the services offered were on the cutting edge.

"It has been a continuous change," Sugden said. "We have come a long way."

But the job of leading the library into the next generation will have to fall on someone else's shoulders. Sugden announced Wednesday she'll retire in June after 32 years on the job.

"I think it is just the right time," she said. "If I am going to have some healthy years to enjoy my retirement, I felt now was the time."

It won't be easy to leave after so many years, though.

"I love this library," Sugden said. "I have devoted my life to this library."

Library board President Richard Ryan, who was on the board when Sugden was hired in 1975, said she certainly will be missed.

"She just does everything well," Ryan said. "She has been an excellent director."

During Sugden's tenure, the library moved from what is now the Barrington Township building on Hough Street to the current location in 1978. It was expanded in 1993.

Ryan said Sugden kept the library at the forefront of technology and innovation.

The library was the first to install lockers for free delivery in remote corners of the district -- a service now offered around the country -- and its "Simple Living" program received the American Library Association's prestigious John Cotton Dana award.

It is the people, specifically the library's department heads, whom Sugden said she will miss most.

"They are an incredibly strong, creative group," she said.

Over the next several months, Ryan said the library board will conduct a nationwide search to find a new executive director.

"We don't think there will be any shortage of applicants," he added.

As for the coming months, Sugden said she plans on working hard and not waiting around for her retirement to come.

"I am excited about (the coming months)," Sugden said. "It is full-steam ahead."