Director of library services hired for Thompson Free Library

DOVER-FOXCROFT – Greta Schroeder of Biddeford has been hired as the new director of library services for the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft. Schroeder, who starts in her new position on May 18, will replace Helen Fogler, who is retiring after serving for 21 years in that role.

As director of library services, Schroeder will be responsible for managing all aspects of library operations and programming, including supervision of the library’s four-member staff. The Thompson Free Library, founded in 1897, is open 40 hours per week, Tuesday through Saturday.

The seven-member executive committee of the Thompson Free Library Association selected Schroeder after reviewing a range of applications and conducting interviews with four finalists.

“The committee is impressed with Greta’s professionalism and poise, her work experience and educational background, her communications skills, and her obvious enthusiasm for the role of the public library in a rural community,” said Deborah Davis, chair of the executive committee. “We feel she’ll be a great fit for Dover-Foxcroft.”

Schroeder, who grew up in Orono, has worked since 2015 serving the public at the circulation desk of the McArthur Public Library in Biddeford. Her role at McArthur expanded to include additional responsibilities such as conducting book repairs, maintaining the serials collection, and assisting in staff training. She also holds a temporary position as an archives assistant for the City of Portland in the Department of Public Works, organizing and cataloging records, assisting the public with research, and supporting the work of city employees.

Earlier this year, Schroeder received her Master of Science degree in Library and Information Science, with a concentration in Archives Management, from Simmons College in Boston.

“It is an honor to join the staff of the Thompson Free Library, and I am so happy to have the opportunity to return to the part of Maine that I consider home,” said Schroeder. “I look forward to getting to know, learning from, and collaborating with the library team and the Dover-Foxcroft community.”

Schroeder’s first library job was in 2005 when she served a summer assistantship in the reference department of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine. She followed with a work-study position as circulation desk student supervisor at the Oberlin College Library in Ohio. At Oberlin, she was also a teaching assistant in the Creative Writing Program and an intern at the Oberlin College Press. Schroeder graduated from Oberlin in 2008, Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing.

Before pursuing her graduate degree at Simmons, Schroeder and her father entered into a partnership restoring and reopening Happy Acres Hall in Alton. She worked as events manager, coordinating private rentals and public events at that venue.

Schroeder’s professional affiliations include the American Library Association, New England Archivists and the Society of American Archivists.

New Thompson Free Library
Director of Library Services
Greta Schroeder