Lauren Korn sits down with Slaven Lee, the Executive Director of the Missoula Public Library (MPL), which just won Best Public Library of 2022, an award given to a newly designed library that’s excelled at combining sustainable and open architecture and incorporating learning technology, IT solutions, local culture, and landscape. The award was presented to the MPL by the International Federation of Library Associations. The MPL is the first library in North America to receive this award.
Here, Lee speaks towards the idea of “best,” what the MPL plans on doing with the money that accompanies the title of Best Public Library, and the values of community and collaboration that define the library, its staff, and its future outreach.
To learn more about the Missoula Public Library, go to their website here.
Listen to an excerpt of a 2022 StoryCorps mobile tour conversation with former MPL Executive Director Honore Bray and current Assistant Director of Services Elizabeth Jonkel here.
You can also learn a great deal about the MPL via the Library Journal InfoDocket.
