Mary Jo Torgeson retired last year after serving for nine years as the Anchorage Public Library Director. She remains passionate in her belief that libraries are an essential part of a vibrant and cohesive community, both in developing strong partnerships with businesses, schools, and community agencies and in creating services that transform people’s lives. She brought a wide range of experience in developing user-centered services that make our libraries easier to use and understand. She was a leader in developing library services for diverse communities, including non-English-speaking communities. Ms. Torgeson earned her Master of Library Science at the University of Washington and her Master of Public Administration at Seattle University. In her retirement, she still does what librarians do for fun: READ…and cooks, walks dogs, goes to indie films, and enjoys beautiful Alaska outdoors.