Lincoln City Libraries

Most passionate reader. That’s how Lincoln City Libraries Director Pat Leach wants to be known.

Others see her as much more: committed, consistent, anticipatory, and passionate about serving the community and promoting literacy.

As library director, Leach heads up Bennett Martin Public Library, its seven branches, and 150 staff members. She was appointed to the role in 2008.

Retired assistant library director John Dale worked with Leach from the time she was a part-time youth services library aid in 1979 until his retirement in 2005, and even officiated at her wedding. During his initial encounter, Pat’s gigantic smile and congeniality struck him.

He recalled when she took a year off in the late ‘80s to get her master’s degree in library and information science at the University of Illinois. “My feeling was always that she would go as far as she wanted to go,” Dale said. Over the years he found her to be really, really smart, he shared. “She can come into a situation, and she clicks immediately. She’s good at reading the room.”

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