A 10-year-veteran of the library administration profession is the now serving the people of Dowagiac as the new director of the Dowagiac District Library.

Matt Weston was named to the position by the library board late last month. Previous Director Jacob Munford had to step down from his post in early February due to illness spendingt his last days at work helping show Weston the ropes.

A west Michigan native, Weston  was raised in Farmington, just north of Detroit.

After high school, Weston went north to Marquette, to attend Northern Michigan University. College graduation left Weston in the same place it leaves most people, confused and wondering what we truly want to do.

From there, Weston went to Juneau, Alaska, to be with his fiancée, who was working at the State Archives in Juneau. Coincidentally, Weston started volunteering at a local library that was situated on the shores of the Gastineau Channel.

Weston believes that it was there, watching the ships come and go from the channel while tending to the library, that he realized what he wanted to do with his professional life.

After just a year in Juneau, Weston made the decision to go back to school.

“I truly believe that library influenced me greatly in my decision to go to school to be a librarian,” Weston said.

Weston attended Dominican University, in Chicago, where he received his degree in library science. From there he took a job in Carol Stream, Illinois as a reference librarian.

Weston’s last post was held at the Van Buren District Library, in Decatur, Michigan, where he was the branch services coordinator. Due to budgetary reasons, Weston’s position was eliminated from the library. After over 10 years of being a librarian, Weston has landed in Dowagiac to take over operations as the new director of the Library.

Weston is excited to get started and believes that the library has a multitude of great resources for the public. The key to running a successful library is getting the public involved, he said.

“I want to give people a new reason to come in and check out the library in Dowagiac and at the same time show them all the great things our website and online resources can do,” Weston said.

For those who like to read on their device or tablet, the Dowagiac District Library offers Overdrive, a service that allows for online book rental and returns with no late fees.

“All you need is a library card and you’re good to go,” said Weston, “The books are returned automatically, which eliminates late fees.”

The Dowagiac District Library is located at 211 Commercial St. For hours and events call (269) 782-3826.