In the aftermath of a difficult budget and in the midst of a complex building project, E.C. Scranton Memorial Library Director Beth Crowley recently announced she will resign her position as library director effective Friday, Sept. 14.

In a statement to this paper, Crowley said she will be taking over as the director of the Cheshire Public Library and said while this was a difficult decision, it was the right one for her.

“Leaving the Scranton Library is definitely bittersweet, but taking the directorship of the Cheshire Public Library is a great opportunity and the right choice for me at this time, both professionally and personally,” she said. “I will deeply miss my amazing staff, the trustees, and the Friends of the Scranton Library, not to mention all of our library users and supporters. I would just like to say thank you to everyone for a wonderful 6 ½ years and for giving me the opportunity to serve the Town of Madison as its library director.”

Crowley was hired in 2012, taking on the position of director following the retirement of Sandra Long, who served as director for 42 years. Prior to joining the Scranton Library, Crowley spent 13 years at the Groton Public Library.

When news of her eminent departure started to circulate on Aug. 14, the announcement came as a bit of a shock to library trustees, members of the library building committee, and town officials. However, Library Trustees President Beth Coyne said she wishes Crowley all the best and is thankful she gave the library a month’s notice.

“Over the next month, we will work with Beth and we will work with some key staff and the board to determine the next best step for the library, which likely will be an interim or some form of an interim” director, she said.

In regard to the building committee, which is expected to put building designs out to bid in the coming month and transition the library to its temporary location this fall, Coyne said she has already spoken with First Selectman Tom Banisch about having another trustee or staff member fill Crowley’s place on the committee.

“I think the timing there frankly is good, because the committee has a good plan, a lot of the big work there is done that she has impacted, so it will being carrying forward that,” she said. “We are thrilled that we have our solid plan in place for moving forward there.”

Coyne said she knows the Cheshire Library job is an opportunity Crowley couldn’t pass up and noted that the Cheshire Library is a municipal library owned by the town, unlike the set-up here in Madison where the library is a private entity run with a combination of town funding augmented by private funds.

“It’s returning to a municipal library system, which is where she came from, so I think the opportunity for her to focus more on the library work as opposed to all of the other stuff that our library, which we love, entails around fundraising and events and the budget stuff,” she said. “It’s a very different process than a library that is a municipal library.”