Lynn Likely, the director of Brewton Public Library is someone to know if you have a love of books and other types of media.
The library is now operating with five full time workers and seven part time workers. This is a far cry from the days when there were only a couple of people who worked there.
Likely makes it her business to stay in touch with the library patrons who come in to either check out a book or any number of services offered by the library.
“I came here to work in 2011,” Likely said. “I heard they were looking for a bookkeeper and, as that was my training, I applied for the job. I have always wanted to work with numbers and figures and this seemed as if it would be a good fit for me.”
Likely filled in when the library director, Glenda Lammers, left and served as interim director until she was hired to her present position.
“I still am doing lots of the bookkeeping, but we are training someone else to take on that job so I can focus on being the director,” she said. “That will free me to take over some of the other things that have been put on hold.”
Brewton Public Library is part of the City of Brewton.
“Part of my job is to keep abreast of any grants that are available to help us with the things we need,” she said. “I hope to be able to do more of that in the near future.”
Libraries are not like they once were. Today they not only deal with books, they have other types of media that they make available for the citizens of this area. There are large print books for those who have sight problems and there are audio books for those who like to listen to books instead of reading them.
“I would like for us to be able to offer E-books to our patrons,” Likely said. “We also need to develop outreach programs to reach groups and the home-schooled. There are more of them than there once was. We have to be able to furnish what the public needs if we want to stay current. We need to let them know what we have to offer.”
The use of online services plays a big part in the library today. There are several computers set up to be used by patrons.
Likely was born and raised in Damascus. She attended school in the Escambia County School System, graduating from W.S. Neal Nigh School in 1983.
While she was a student at Neal she was also in the program of training at Escambia Brewton Vocational Center. It was there that she had her first experience with business management.
“My teacher, Betty Clark, got me interested in business management,” she said. “I decided that is what I wanted to do and I have always loved it.”
She carried her schooling to Jefferson Davis Community College for two years while working at the Bank of Brewton, first as a teller and then in bookkeeping.
She married Joe Likely in 1985 and soon welcomed Jolesia and Gary. She went to work with Associate Finance Company where she stayed for nearly 20 years.
Over the years she had a home based job that she called “Lynn’s Publication and Designs.”
“I had two children and I needed a little extra money so I started my own business,” she said. “I still do a little of that today.”