New Administration at Platteville Public Library

by Matt Schaefer

The clichéd vision of the humble librarian is one that actually suits the Platteville Public Library’s new administrator. She is kind with a warm smile, speaks meekly (it is a library after all), and is in fact bespectacled. Her name is Jessie Lee-Jones, and she is very proud of her head librarian position.

Lee-Jones, who is in fact the wife of  PHS social studies teacher Mr. Garrett Jones, began her job as library director at the Platteville Public Library on October 15th and is already quite enveloped in her work. In fact, I caught her for an interview shortly before she had another meeting to go to. 

When asked what plans are in store for the library under her administration, she was excited. “Hopefully, we’ll be rebuilding the library,” she says, as she recounts the city’s plans to redesign the entire block and potentially create new facilities for the library, along with other businesses.

She is very happy with the position she is in, having already been a part of the Southwest Wisconsin Library System for four years through working at the Lancaster Public Library for two years prior to her job in Platteville. “I’ve always strived to be further ahead,” she beams, as she tells of how she was a director of the Cobb Library, a smaller library, for some time. She enjoys the directorial position, which allows her to “make important decisions and meet interesting people.”

On a more personal level, she is happy to be working in the town in which her husband is a member of the school system and where her daughter will be attending. “It’s a good opportunity to grow roots,” she says, stating that it was a job opportunity she could not pass up and that it will be “nice for the family.”

So, if you run into Jessie Lee-Jones at the public library, say “Hello” to her and maybe mention you’re a student of her husband. She is very excited about her work and eager to get to know the community.