By Janet Stoica

She’s been giving her all to the Pearle Crawford Library for over a year now and it shows. Nicole Messier not only lives locally but with her years of library experience and knowledge of what libraries are truly about in 2025, she brings a wealth of knowledge and joy to her position that has spread itself happily among the town’s residents who visit the Mecca of wisdom and entertainment.

She began her career in Charlton as a Library Coordinator for the school’s kindergarten and first graders. It was an entry level position and she absolutely loved it. After moving on to be Charlton Library’s Administrative Assistant and then their Assistant Library Director she found her ultimate destination at the Crawford Library. Ms. Messier has her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration which she received from Framingham State University as well as a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science which she acquired from the University of Rhode Island. “I’ve received a really well-rounded education working in the library system,” she said, “I decided to take the leadership track toward a director’s position. The first assignment I had after becoming the Library Director was updating our five-year Strategic Planning Report.” 

“We’ve also completed a public survey asking residents about what they expect from their library and received 250 responses. It was very revealing and interesting to get to know what people want and that we’re not only about books these days. We’ve learned and seen that many of our users use the library as their “third space” after work and after home. People are involved in every aspect of learning from genealogy to book clubs to research. We also want to help close the digital divide and to stay up-to-date with technology. Libraries have become a real people entity.”

“You won’t be shushed here,” said Director Messier, “we want to be inclusive to everyone in helping with their needs. We had a Dudley resident visit here who asked about a weekly mahjong group. She told us she’d been traveling to the town of Holland to play but we accommodated her and we now have a group of about 15 players enjoying mahjong. We want to serve everyone---children, teens, and adults. We look forward to the speakers we’ve brought in to present different subjects.”

“Just recently, on February 14, the library hosted a Legislative Breakfast to advise our patrons where our funding comes from. Our current budget is level funded but additional funding needs are included as well. We want everyone to enjoy the library. We receive state aid and endowment funds and our trustees are always there for us. Deb Coggans, our Library Assistant, raised $1,700 last year for our Summer Reading Program for children and adults. Deb has been a great asset for the library. She runs the circulation desk and also has 15 years of library experience.”

“I enjoy programming and bringing the people in,” said Ms. Messier, “It’s a great feeling to enjoy your job and to bring people in. It’s getting to know your community. We want to remain relevant by offering new experiences to our residents as we continue to grow and present that life-long learning experience. We’re looking forward to having computer classes as well as additional classes like resume writing and how to make business flyers and posters including AI technology. We now offer borrowing of Hot Spots and have mobile Wi-Fi through funding from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. We just bought five more Hot Spots with discounts offered by the library for lending.”

When asked what the last book was that she read, Ms. Messier replied that she had enjoyed an audio book by the name of “More or Less Maddy” by Lisa Genova. A fictional work about a young girl in a bipolar manic episode told from the perspective of the young girl, her sister, and her mother. 

“You should swing by and visit us,” said Director Messier, “we’re more than a library!  We have museum passes, recommendations on all types of subject matter, and are also a Library of Things such as a food dehydrator, a cordless drill, a sewing machine, knitting kits, and even memory kits for people suffering from dementia and memory issues.” Check out the library’s website for more information: www.crawfordlibrary.org  Pearle L. Crawford Memorial Library, 40 Schofield Avenue, Dudley MA 01571. (508) 949-8021. Hours: Mon & Thurs 10am-8pm; Tues/Wed/Fri 10am – 5pm; Saturday 10am – 2pm year round.