Who is Chad Helton? Get to know Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library CEO.
BALTIMORE -- The Enoch Pratt Free Library announced Chad Helton as the new president and Chief Executive Officer.
"I'm really excited about getting to work with the people of Baltimore directly," Helton said.
Helton, who the Board of Directors appointed following a nationwide search, said he knows first-hand how public libraries help build healthy communities and change lives.
"I think the library has been very impactful in the lives of the people that live in this city and I think the work that is being done by the staff has been exemplary," he said.
Helton is eager to tackle his new role as the leader of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
"I think the library has been very impactful in the lives of the people that live in this city and I think the work that is being done by the staff has been exemplary," Helton said.
The impact of libraries
Helton, originally from North Carolina, knows the impact libraries can have on people's lives, including his own, after he dropped out as an undergrad at UNC-Chapel Hill.
"I was homeless, chronically underemployed and trying to figure out how to get my life back together," Helton said.
He said a friend helped him get a job working for the campus library where he ran into an old professor who helped him re-enroll in school and ultimately graduate.
"Dr. Clark told me that the library was my way to help people change their lives in the way that he helped me change mine for the better," Helton said. "So I took that idea and I ran with it."
Helton's accomplishments
Helton has had a lengthy career in academic libraries and then public libraries all over the country.
He became the director of branches in Los Angeles, and most recently, Director of Hennepin County Library in Minnesota, all the while continuing his own education, getting a master's degree in Library and Information Studies and Public Administration, and he's currently pursuing his doctorate in education.
"Libraries and education are the great equalizers," Helton said. "I would be nowhere if it wasn't for my education."
Goals for the Enoch Pratt Library
Helton says his goals for Enoch Pratt Library include improving facilities, bolstering programming and digital resources and continuing to serve the community.
"Because we work so closely with the community, this really creates a space where we're able to bring about change," Helton said. "We're really able to hear what it is that people in our city want and need from us and I think that will always be important and will always be impactful."