Marple Named Lander Branch Manager

Jun 14, 2017

Anita Marple recently was named manager of the Lander Branch Library, part of the Fremont County Library System. “Anita is very service oriented, said Janette McMahon, the library system’s Executive Director. “I can’t wait to see what she has in store for the Lander branch.”

The library has been a big part of Marple’s life ever since she came to Fremont County. “The Lander Library was the first place I took my two children when we moved to Lander 15 years ago,” she said. “From the very first visit we felt welcomed by the children’s staff in particular and quickly became regular visitors.”

As her children grew, she began volunteering with the Lander Library Friends Association, serving on its board for four years before she was hired by Barbara Oakleaf in 2011 to work in the children’s department part-time. Not long after her hire, she started the Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) process, taking online courses with the support of Carol McMurry Library Endowment grants. In 2013, she took the full-time children’s position when Becky Packer retired.

“I appreciate this opportunity,” Marple said. “We’ve got intelligent, creative staff who are committed to excellent service to the wonderful variety of people in the Lander community.

As she settles into the groove of leading the Lander team, she hopes to encourage new avenues to engage current patrons and welcome new ones, as well as to develop more partnerships with groups in the community.  “We provide access to excellent resources. Promoting what we do and what we offer will be necessary to show that the library truly is the hub of the community.”

Marple holds a B.S. degree in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology from Missouri State University.  Prior to joining the library world, she worked in campus ministry, early childhood education, and bookstores.

She grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, on the north bank of the Missouri River in a good-sized Italian family (with Scots-Irish thrown in) of 10 kids. “My maiden name is Giovagnoli, which is not so common in the US, but in Italy it’s equivalent to ‘Smith.'” A fun random fact: her father was the inventor of the modern arm-style commercial baseball pitching machine, the  “Iron Mike,” used by most of the major league baseball teams for training.

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