After serving as the interim director for the last nine months, Erin Sapienza is now officially the permanent Orange County Library Director.

The local government shared a release Monday afternoon, with county manager Bonnie Hammersley sharing details on why choosing Sapienza made the most sense.

Erin Sapienza (Photo via the Orange County Government.)

“Erin’s familiarity with Orange County Public Library and her leadership qualities make her the ideal choice,” said Hammersley. “She knows the people the library serves and has a clear vision for the role the library can play in our community.”

Sapienza started at Orange County Library in 2013 as a Branch Manager, putting together the annual budget, hiring staff and developing programming with community partners. In 2015, she was promoted to Community Services Library before being named Assistant Library Director in March 2020. Orange County’s previous library director, Lucinda Munger, resigned last October, and Sapienza stepped into the interim role.

“I love this community and feel honored to serve as the Library Director,” Sapienza shared in Monday’s release. “Much of my library career has focused on community engagement, and I am eager to continue collaborative work that addresses the needs of our residents.”

Orange County said Sapienza was one of the driving forces behind the public library system moving to a fare-free model in late 2021. Sapienza orchestrated the team that spoke with community members and received feedback on how to make the library’s resources more accessible. While the library still charges for damaged or lost materials, several alternative programs exist for residents to give back — like the “Food and Toys for Fines” initiative.

“One of our over-arching goals,” Sapienza said, “is to remove barriers to service. As an organization whose mission is to lift our residents up, we committed to pursue elimination of fines, and we will continue to improve our services and access for all residents.”

Prior to her current roles, Sapienza worked as a librarian for Durham Tech, the Living Arts Institute in Winston-Salem and Alamance County before coming to Orange County. She earned her master’s of library science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Featured photo via the Orange County Government.

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