Must-Read: Marin Local Library Director Wins the 2018 Sullivan Award

Now you can add librarians to the list of things Marin is known for. Sara Jones, director of the Marin County Free Library, won the 2018 Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children.

The American Library Association presents this national award each year to a library administrator who has shown “exceptional understanding and support” of such services.

Jones’ focus is on making sure the library inspires young people to be readers and lifelong learners. Under her leadership, the Marin County Free Library issued more than 9,000 library cards to students and eliminated all overdue fines for children’s and teen materials.

She has also been a fierce supporter of integrating 21st-century learning approaches and technologies into the library’s 10 branches, including 3D printing, maker spaces, and augmented and virtual reality.

Kier Holmes is a Bay Area-based freelance writer and landscape designer who contributes to Marin Magazine, Sunset Magazine, and Gardenista, combining her devotion to plants and to writing. Kier is also a garden educator at the Mill Valley Public Library in Marin, where she nurtures children’s innate curiosity of all living things through nature crafts and books. When not gardening, writing or teaching, you can find her at Stinson Beach hunting for shells or picking up ocean debris with her 12-year-old son. Follow her on Instagram.