After 16 years of service to the Library of Hattiesburg Petal & Forrest County, Adam Singletary is uniquely equipped to step into his new role as the library system’s director, a position he officially began on January 1.
Singletary takes over for longtime director Sean Farrell, who retired on that date following a 34-year stint at the library.
“It seems like a new kind of era, so there’s lots of excitement in that,” Singletary said. “I’m excited to be taking my 16 years of experience working for the (library system) and applying it to the director’s position.”
Singletary graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in English literature before earning his master’s degree in library science. He started with the library system in 2007, starting as a librarian before moving up to assistant director and now director.
“I taught at USM briefly in the master’s program, and having already worked here for so many years, you can see that you have a direct impact on (library) patrons. That’s especially (true, for example), in the computer lab, maybe helping someone to find a job. It’s been nice so far.
“It’s been really busy, especially since we have this exhibit (“Americans and the Holocaust”) opening, so I haven’t really had a chance to stop and think about what’s happening. But so far it’s been smooth. Coming out of the (COVID-19) pandemic, everything became more isolated, so I think we’re excited to venture out with more outreach in the community – partnerships and things like that.”
Farrell, who started with the library in 1989, said for the time being, he will take his retirement time to spend more time at home and with family.
“There’s not any one thing (that led to my retirement) – you get to be over 60, and financially you can (retire), and my wife is retired,” he said. “So this is something I kind of selfishly wanted to do. I don’t have any immediate, big plans, but I’m kind of poking around with the idea of writing a book about professional baseball in Mississippi.
“There’s been a heck of a lot of books written about Mississippians playing professional baseball, but not a lot about professional baseball in Mississippi – obviously mostly minor league and semi-pro. So I’m going to play around with that a little bit, and then my wife and I are going to take a trip later this spring, but other than that, I’m just going to relax and enjoy spending time with my wife at home.”
During his more than three decades with the library, one of Farrell’s favorite aspects of the job was being able to serve and interact with the public.
“Even as an administrator, whenever I could get out of my office and work the circulation desk or work a program, that was, to me, the most intrinsically rewarding thing,” he said. “Particularly in a public library, when somebody comes up to the circulation desk, you don’t they’re going to read or what they’re going to want.
“To me, it was wonderful talking to people about all sorts of different things, but mostly about books. It was really wonderful talking to people about books and what they were reading, what they were interested in and things like that. I was also very lucky to have, throughout my career, such a wonderful and diverse staff.”
Farrell is also proud of the fact that the library staff is an integral part of the community.
“I really do think the public has taken the library to heart, and sort of made it theirs, which made it a very strong institution,” he said. “In all the textbooks you read, you should cut across ethnic, social, economic and racial lines, and we certainly did, and (the current staff) does now.
“That was very rewarding to me, that we could reach out to the incredibly diverse population base of Forrest County. I think we did a really good job of that.”
For his part, Farrell believes Singletary will easily continue that role with the community and library staff.
“I know he will,” Farrell said. “Adam’s worked for the library about 16 years, and like myself, he started out pushing a book cart and shelving books.
“So it’s the halo effect – you think if they do it like you did it, it’s going to work out well. He will not be asking anybody to do anything he hasn’t done in a library, and he’s experienced every aspect of a public library.”
