UNION — On Wednesday, July 1, Angie McKenna will step down as Vose Library director and resume her role as library assistant. Debra Lay, who is heading back to Maine, will become the new library director, according to a news release from the library.

For Lay this is not simply a career change, but a dream come true. A Newburyport, Massachusetts, native, her work as a classroom teacher, school administrator, and online instructor for higher education extends more than 25 years. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix.

Her husband Doug, is a retired middle school principal and their son Brett attends Maine Maritime Academy. Debra and Doug enjoy their two Yorkies; Summer and Cisco.

From 2014 to 2017, while principal of a PreK through eighth-grade school in Jonesport, her love of literacy was re-inspired when she led a transformation of the Jonesport Elementary School library along with the financial help of a Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation grant.

With both feet in, she pursued and earned her Masters in Library and Information Science from Simmons University in 2019, with the goal of working in a library. Simultaneously, a partnership with Island Readers & Writers blossomed and Lay now serves as president of that Board of Directors. With a deep belief that a public library should be the hub of its community, Debra Lay is excited to join the enthusiastic and invested – TEAM VOSE.

For more information, call Vose Library at 207-785-4733.

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