New Urbana Library Director Reflects on Book-Weeding, Library’s Future

The new director of the Urbana Free Library comes to an institution that, just last summer, was engulfed in controversy.

The library’s previous executive director was forced out, after directing the weeding of books in a way that some patrons and staff members felt went too far.

The Urbana library's new executive director is Celeste Choate, who comes from the Ann Arbor District Library in Michigan. Choate talked with Illinois Public Media’s Sean Powers about her vision for the library. And she says last year’s book-weeding controversy shows the importance of engaging with the public and with staff when making decisions.