Sonoma County library names Hammond new director

Library chief brings Dewey Decimal skills from Kentucky.|

After an 18-month search, the Sonoma County Library Commission has named Ann Hammond as Sonoma County Library’s new director.

Hammond’s history reads like the backstory of a John Grisham protagonist: she has been, by turns, a U.S. Navy officer, a stay-at-home mom, an agronomist and a forensic scientist.

And a librarian, of course, most recently in Kentucky. Hammond will leave her position as Executive Director of the Lexington Public Library and take on management of Sonoma County’s 12-branch library system in March. Previously, she had leadership roles in San Diego and Alameda county libraries, where she developed expertise with management, budgeting, strategic planning and collections planning, according to a press statement from the library.

“Kentucky is one of the friendliest and most beautiful states in the nation, and will always have a special place in my heart,” Hammond said. “But California is my home, and I am overjoyed to be returning, and especially joining the Sonoma County Library team.”

During Hammond’s tenure in Kentucky, the Lexington library system renovated most of its branches and increased donations and community outreach. Reece Foxen, chair of the commission, said of Hammond: “I believe she has the exact balance of experience and skills the library needs.”

In addition to the 12 branches spread across Sonoma County from Cloverdale to Sonoma, the system includes multiple special collections and libraries. It has been without a permanent director since mid-2017.

“Ann will help us move the library into the future, continuing to give Sonoma County residents a library of which they can be extremely proud,” Foxen said.

“I always wanted to be a librarian,” Hammond said. “There is no place in our society that is as positive and welcoming as a public library.”

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