Meet Paul Mills, Acorn Public Library's New Director

It's not enough to say that books are his job.

With a wife and mother-in-law who are also library directors, books are a way of life for 's new Director Paul Mills.

His family moved frequently when Mills was a child. Despite many transitions and fresh starts, books were a top priority then, much like his life now.

"One of the first things we did when we moved to a new town—we'd get a library card," he said.

. Patch sat down with him just three days into his role. We learned that his wife Jenny is library director at Shorewood-Troy Public Library. They have a 5-year-old daughter, Emily Ann. Keep reading to learn his plans for the library, his favorite reading material, and more. Don't miss our earlier piece on his detailed .

First, the question on everyone's mind: your favorite type of book?

Alternative history. The whole concept is, someone takes a point in history, then looks at what happens if it went a different way—imagining what the world would have been like. [For example,] different outcomes for the Civil War and World War II. You name it, someone has written a book about it. It's viewed as a "guilty pleasure."

Your daughter has essentially been born into books. Are you going to encourage her to follow your and your wife's career path?

It's almost pre-ordained. I think her fate is sealed. She does like books; it's inevitable.

What tops your list of goals? What do you plan to focus on in your role?

The is certainly our primary focus this year. One of my goals is to learn our community, our staff, and the building. We'll be watching very closely what happens with the state. Budgets are tight for everyone. ...

[Note: Mills talked about Acorn's membership in System Wide Area Network (SWAN), a cooperative project of 80 libraries across the south suburbs. SWAN offers an automated card catalog that works within all the library systems. If patrons cannot locate a book within Acorn, they can search other SWAN libraries and have it shipped to Acorn, using the Metropolitan Library System for cost-effective shipment.]

(Mills, continued): This is a key service to Acorn. It allows resource sharing. The state budget crisis has put a severe strain on that. It's been a very big good for our patrons. The cost to run those is going to be pushed down to us. 

How does Acorn compare to previous libraries where you've worked?

I've worked in libraries that are bigger, and libraries that are smaller. What appeals to me about Acorn is a director really has a chance to get to know the community, the staff—still provide a high level of service, with a personal touch.

E-books: a recent trend in libraries. Any chance Acorn will explore that option?

We don't offer e-books at this time. It's something we're going to look into. There are some issues, like the quality and the hoops patrons have to jump through to use e-books on e-readers.

[For instance, Mills noted that e-books from libraries' main supplier of e-content only work on a Nook or Sony e-reader, but not a Kindle.]

It's not nearly as seamless as buying a book. We'll look at it in July, for the new fiscal year. We're going to get a feel for interest from the community.

Some people are against e-content, in general, fearing the downfall of traditional print products. Where do you stand? Do you own an e-reader?

I fall on the side that we I think we need to fight to make this (e-content) work. I own a Nook. I still can't find everything I want (on it). Also, every book I read is not necessarily something I want to own.

We know you're new, but have you spotted any trends at Acorn, right off the bat?

I'm still learning about the community, but it seems that DVDs circulate quite a bit. Computer usage is very popular, and we have a small computer class section, several people in each class.

What are your hopes for the library during your time as director?

Short-term, I'm really excited about the construction project, helping bring that dream to fruition. It's neat because it's the result of the library looking at its community, restructuring based on how the library can better serve the community—making bigger story-time rooms and using space better. I want to see what the community wants from the library, and how we can meet those wants.

Don't miss Mills revealing "Five Things You Didn't Know about Acorn Public Library" in our video.

This is a weekly column. Check back next Wednesday for next week's installment.