Nicole Henline leads Monroeville Public Library through pandemic with eagerness to buck status quo

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The phrase “status quo” is not in Nicole Henline’s lexicon.

It’s not because she doesn’t know what the words mean. It’s just that the idea goes against her nature.

Henline, 48, has served as director of the Monroeville Public Library since 2015. She has introduced many changes to the library since then, but many of those have happened within the past year as she and the staff have worked to stay afloat during the pandemic.

“It’s been overwhelming,” said Barb English, Henline’s assistant and the library’s circulation supervisor. “But (Henline) has been good about keeping us on track.”

Libraries in Pennsylvania, deemed “non-life-sustaining” businesses, were some of the first entities to close their doors last March to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

As the pandemic grew more severe, Monroeville began to lay off part- and full-time workers, including all of the library’s staff. At one point, only one person kept the library going.

It wasn’t Henline.

“She was right there with us,” English said. “Her taking the furlough with us went above and beyond. She took that hit with us.”

Henline said the reason for the decision was a recognition that she wasn’t the most equipped to set up the library for a successful reopening. Alan Rader, the library’s Maker Lab and technology librarian, stayed behind to transition the library to online programming and stow away furniture.

By July 13, all 11 full-time staffers were back to work, and by July 27, the library reopened to browsing by appointments only. But contactless pickup was in place and remains an “extremely popular” option for patrons, English said.

English said the contactless pickup program utilizes the library’s gallery space, which is connected to the building’s front entrance with separate doors. Patrons can put together an order through email or by calling.

The service has ensured circulation stayed relatively flat through last year’s inactivity. English said the difference between circulation numbers in January 2020 and the same month this year was only 35 items.

Henline grew up in Penn Hills. She began working at the municipality’s library at age 17, teaching computer classes. But she strayed from library work upon graduating from Duquesne University, where she finished with two bachelor’s degrees – business administration and English – and a master’s degree in education and secondary English.

Right out of college, she began teaching seventh grade in the East Allegheny School District. She held the job for four years before realizing it wasn’t right for her.

“It’s a difficult time to be a teacher — I have respect for people who do it. And I got a lot of good experience. It was time for me to step back and think ‘where am I happy?’ Well, I’m always happy at the library,” Henline said.

She left the teaching job for a gig at Point Park University’s library while she finished another master’s degree in library science from the University of Pittsburgh.

When she graduated, she landed a job as the director of the Community Library of Shenango Valley in Sharon.

In 2015, Henline moved to Monroeville to become its library director. Since then, she has introduced patrons to an afterschool program for teens and the Maker Space, where technology not readily available to everyone – such as a 3D printer – is available to borrow.

She also has led the charge to reach out to outside community groups in order to hear their wants and needs.

“I’m big on access. That’s our purpose as a library, to give people access and, historically, there have been barriers to use resources,” Henline said, using the implementation of library late fines as an example.

The library, along with 11 others in Allegheny County, eliminated late fines in September 2019. Henline said they have no plans to reintroduce them.

The efforts have resulted in an increased number of people visiting the library by 16% over the past five years. Circulation has increased by 27% and in 2019 reached a milestone 400,000 items circulated in one year. And those who attend various library programs went from about 8,000 people in 2014 to over 24,000 people in 2019, Henline said.

Her efforts also have earned her a title as second vice president of the Pennsylvania Library Association. She is this year’s conference chair. It is scheduled to be held in Monroeville in October.

Fortunately, her staff is ready for whatever challenges might come. And the library board is there to cheer them on.

Debbie Iszauk, a former library board president, said Monroeville is a better place as a whole with Henline at the helm – especially over the past year.

“(Henline’s) ability to listen and understand, motivate and inspire, and encourage and lead the library team to create a new vision of connecting our community with an innovative space of creativity and collaboration was amazing,” Iszauk said.

Moving forward, the library will tackle the challenge of continuing to adapt to meet and exceed expectations from patrons.

“What we’re looking at now is how do we serve people in a new way?” English said. “Do we do the same old, same old? Or do we do new stuff?”