Oshkosh Public Library names next director

Brandon Reid, Oshkosh Northwestern
·2 min read
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OSHKOSH — Oshkosh Public Library has named its next director.

Darryl Eschete is currently director of West Des Moines Public Library in Iowa, but starting Jan. 15, 2024, he will be director of the Oshkosh library.

Darryl Eschete
Darryl Eschete

According to a news release, Eschete has held the director’s role at the West Des Moines Public Library since 2012. Prior to that, he was director at Chippewa Falls Public Library in northwestern Wisconsin and head of reference at Terrebonne Parish Library in Louisiana.

Eschete’s bond with libraries began as a child spending countless hours at Terrebonne and later taking a job as a page there at age 15, the release said.

His background includes improving organizational efficiency, leading a $1.3 million building renovation project, and leveraging funding and partnerships to advance library and community initiatives, the release added.

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“Darryl has an impressive track record of putting patrons first and finding innovative ways to connect with the community,” Oshkosh Public Library Board President Bill Bracken said in the release. “I am confident that he will be a dynamic advocate for literacy and learning, positioning the library as a vital resource and leader in building community.”

In addition to leadership roles in the Iowa Library Association Foundation, Eschete has been a featured blogger for the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Roundtable. He also led his library’s involvement in several municipal and community initiatives in West Des Moines.

Eschete graduated from Nicholls State University with a bachelor of arts in mass communication. After graduation, he attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, earning a master of library and information science.

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Eschete said in the release: “I’m very grateful to the Oshkosh Public Library Board and the City of Oshkosh for trusting me with their library, which, to me, is like a town’s heart. I hope and expect that we will all make a most productive and effective team for this beautiful city and that we will serve the citizens with focus and creativity.”

Assistant library directors Ruth Percey and Lisa Sumter Voss have served as interim co-directors while the Board of Trustees conducted its search for the next director following the June 2 retirement of former director Jeff Gilderson-Duwe.

Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or breid@gannett.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @breidHTRNews.

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh Public Library names new director, Darryl Eschete