Vikki Morrow-Ritchie takes over as library director in Huron

HURON — Huron Public Library's new director, no stranger to the area, said she's "very excited" to begin work in her new post. Vikki Morrow-Ritchie, former director of Monroeville Public Library, started work Monday in Huron. She also held important positions at the Milan-Berlin public library."I'm very excited to be here. It's a beautiful library," Morrow-Ritchie told the Register.Morrow-Ritchie succeeds Benjamin Reid, who left in July to become the branch manager in New Albany for the Columbus, Ohio, library system.Morrow-Ritchie said she is concentrated on getting to know the library and the community. She said she'll work to continue the goals in the library's strategic plan, such as partnering with other community organizations in providing programming at the library.Last year, taxpayers approved a levy that hiked local funding the library. Morrow-Ritchie said she noticed Huron residents support the library and seem to support the community in general.A native of the South Euclid-Lyndhurst area in Cleveland, Morrow-Ritchie grew up around swimming pools, was active in swimming and once worked as a lifeguard. She took a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Toledo and took a master's degree in recreation administration from the same school. She worked at the Ernsthausen Aquatic Center in Norwalk.But eventually, she began to focus on libraries. She earned a master's degree in library information science at Kent State University and had several posts in the Milan-Berlin library, including building manager of the Berlin Heights branch, services manager and marketing and technology director. She became director of Monroeville Public Library in March 2015, leaving last week to take the Huron post.Morrow-Ritchie lives in Berlin Heights with her family and enjoys swimming, hiking, traveling, reading, live music, theater and attending her 10-year-old daughter's soccer games with the Edge club in Huron. The Huron library has an annual budget of about $923,000 and is part of the CLEVNET library consortium.Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.Vikki Morrow-Ritchie is the new director of Huron Public Library.