New Barrington Area library director aims to betrend-setter

After more than 30 years with Barbara Sugden at the helm, the Barrington Area Library will have a new executive director next month.

Detlev Pansch, current administrative librarian for the South suburban Frankfort Library District, will take over for Sugden on July 7. Sugden retired last month.

"He is going to be a great fit for us," said library board member Barbara Pintozzi. "He has great vision and wonderful ideas."

Pansch, 52, said he likes the Barrington community and was "really impressed with the staff."

The library board conducted a nationwide search for Sugden's successor. A list of 15 candidates was narrowed down to five, with three getting interviews.

"They were all good, but Detlev just stood out," board President Richard Ryan said.

Starting in the field in 1992, Pansch has been in Frankfort for 10 years and before that worked at the Round Lake library. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois and master's from Dominican University.

The library's staff also gave Pansch a favorable review during the interview process.

"They feel like they will be able to work well with him," Ryan said.

There was a time, Ryan said, that the library was very trend-setting, and he expects Pansch to bring that back to Barrington.

"We have to get back on track with being ahead (of other libraries)," Ryan said. "Right now, we are probably followers."

The problem is that the library has run out of space to add more materials, he said.

With expansion plans in the works, Ryan said Pansch's experience with past referendums was a plus.

"We are going to go for it one of these days," Ryan said of asking voters to approve a library expansion.

Though it's unlikely his tenure will be as long as Sugden's 32 years, Pansch said he expects to remain in the job for quite awhile.

"There are so many wonderful opportunities in Barrington," he said.