Retirement Reception for Director Kathryn I. Martens Set for May 15

The Crystal Lake Public Library Board and staff invite the RAILS community to a farewell reception honoring retiring Library Director Kathryn I. Martens. The reception will be held from 2-4 pm Sunday, May 15 at Crystal Lake Public Library, 126 Paddock St., Crystal Lake.

Martens is retiring after serving as CLPL's director for 31 years. Over the past three decades, she has overseen a building addition and two major renovation projects, dealt with substantial community growth and managed considerable advancements in Library services and technology. She has been an active member of the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce, having served on its board and subcommittees in many leadership roles. She is a member of the CCS Governing Board and the McHenry County Public Library Directors Collaborative.

Prior to assuming the leadership role at CLPL, Martens was director of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library in southwest Virginia, a two-county library system that had three library buildings, two bookmobiles and a service area of 777 square miles. She served in that position for 10 years before returning home to Illinois in December 1990.

Martens grew up in Barrington and landed her first job as a page at Barrington Library when she was a teenager. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975 and a Master of Library & Information Science degree in 1976 from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.