Gary Wasdin’s High Expectations for King County

After serving as executive director of the Omaha Public Library since January 2010, Gary Wasdin recently made a move across the country to take on the position of library director of the King County Library System (KCLS), WA. KCLS, chosen as the Gale/LJ 2011 Library of the Year, is a thriving and diverse library system spread across the 2,000 square mile county to the north, south, and east of Seattle (which maintains its own library system). The 48-branch system serves both urban and rural areas, and is currently well into a $172 million capital bond renovation and expansion program launched in 2004. Bill Ptacek, previously director of the King County system for 25 years, left in December 2013 to become CEO of the Calgary Public Library in Canada.