The East Routt Library District Board of Trustees has named Alysa Selby as the new Bud Werner Memorial Library Director. On July 2, 2021 Selby takes over the Library Director role from Christine Painter, who is retiring after 37 years at Steamboat Springs’ public library.

“Alysa is a strong, smart leader who is committed to continuing a legacy of exceptional library service to our community. She has multiple layers of professional library experience, a big-picture perspective, and a love for Steamboat Springs and our library,” Painter says. “I am confident the library will grow and thrive in her capable hands.” 

Selby has become a vital member of the of the library’s leadership team since first joining the circulation staff in May 1998, then becoming the first recipient of the Bud Werner Memorial Library Educational Assistance Plan (a.k.a. the library’s “grow your own librarian” program) in 2002 and earning a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Emporia State University in 2004.

Selby has been the Digital Services Librarian since 2014, and served as the Technical Services Librarian and Reference Librarian before that. She built Bud Werner Library’s first (and subsequent) website, and continues to manage it to this day. In 2008, Selby engineered the complex movement of the entire collection into the current expanded library facility, along with a team of 100 community volunteers.

Among her many accomplishments at Bud Werner Library has been project management of the groundbreaking Three Wire Winter Oral History and Magazine Collection digital archive. This collection saw 20,000 views in 2020, and serves as a model for future digital collaboration efforts in the community. It also won Colorado Library Project of the Year in 2017, highlighting efforts to develop a digital archive that is integrated into a library's online catalog. She also pioneered the library's first digitization project to make all five of Routt County's historic newspapers searchable online through the state's Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection.

The last time Bud Werner Library saw a leadership transition was in the mid ‘80s; Painter’s original start date was May 1984. “I was hired fresh from grad school with a Master’s Degree in Library Science to be the Youth Services Librarian. I was named Library Director later that same year,” she recalls. “The staff was very small at that time, as was the town. As much as I wanted to stick to puppet shows and storytelling, having the chance to shape the future of Bud Werner was the most wonderful and exciting opportunity imaginable, especially in a place where PhDs were waiting tables and working as lift ops in order to live the mountain dream. I felt so fortunate to have a ‘real job,’ and ultimately a challenging and rewarding career.”  

Selby brings the multi-faceted experience of previously working as the Interlibrary Loan Assistant, the Technical Services Assistant and Cataloger at the library. She has also led some more unconventional things during her library tenure, including partnering with a local musician to establish and manage the Steamboat Uke Jammers Club, an extension of the library’s 2018 ukulele loan program. The club attracted more than 150 members, including seasoned ukulele players, beginners and visiting tourists, and performed at library events, fundraisers and open mic nights throughout the community.

In true Steamboat form, Selby was a ski instructor at Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. during her first winter in the Yampa Valley. Prior to that she spent five years as a guide for Backroads, the active travel company that leads guests all around the world, often by bicycle. Selby led journeys to Bali, Ireland, Germany, France, New Zealand, Canada and around the United States.

During her guiding years, she met a fellow guide who became the love of her life. They married in 1997, drove through Steamboat on a six-week honeymoon while camping across the desert Southwest, and never looked back. They moved to Steamboat, and when she answered a spring 1998 newspaper ad for a front desk position at the library she found her true home. She’s been at Bud Werner Library ever since.

When outside the library, you’ll find Selby playing the piano, strumming her ukulele, swimming, skiing, golfing, gardening, biking, sewing and making fermented stuff that stinks up the house. She has volunteered with Partners in Routt County since 2007, and was matched with a local youth who, today, is successfully completing her college education.

During her tenure, Painter has fostered a deep commitment to the Library as a vibrant, welcoming space, open to all. Selby continues this tradition at Bud Werner Library in 2021 and beyond.