New face at the helm of Moss Memorial Library

By Becky Long

Publisher

Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville welcomed Griffin Anderson as its first new branch manager in more than three decades.

Anderson is filling the void left by library director,  Mary Fonda, who retired in October 2022 after 31 years on the job.

Griffin comes to Moss Memorial Library from Tri-County Community College where he worked as a library technician.

“At Tri-County, I worked in collection development, reference, research instruction and circulation. I am also currently working on my Master of Library Science online from East Carolina University, where I am also a graduate research assistant with Laupus Health Science Library, assisting on a large scale study of internet access and use among rural and farmworker communities,” Anderson said. “Before working in libraries, I was a Career and Technical Education teacher with Cherokee County Schools.”

Anderson’s plans include building on the  library’s successes while incorporating new ideas.

“Moss Memorial Library has a great foundation and relationship with the community of Hayesville and Clay County and I would like to continue to develop programs that serve the communities’ needs,” he said. “In the library itself, we’re also looking at refreshing our children’s section to add a young adult/teen area. Additionally, we’re beginning to reorganize the genealogy room, adding collections of local and regional history and planning on digitizing our historical records.”

Regarding the library’s connection to the community, Anderson wants to keep it strong through communication with the public.

“Libraries are meant to serve their community’s needs and I’ve been starting here at Moss Memorial Library by listening to our library patrons and organizations,” he said. “If you’ve been by the library these last few weeks, chances are I’ve asked you about your interests and what you’d like to see here. I want to base our priorities on how to best represent the communities of Hayesville and Clay County.”

Libraries hold a special place in Anderson’s life. From a very young age, his mother regularly took him there.

“I would spend hours browsing and checking out books up through middle school and high school. My first library ‘job’ was actually as a media center assistant in middle school.”

Anderson and his wife Jenny Moyer live in Murphy with their three dogs, a cavalier named “Keats” a shih-tzu named “Tibby” and a Jack Russell/beagle mix named “Zelda.” Jenny is the enrollment management specialist at Tri-County Community College.

“I would like to hear from our community. Next time you stop by Moss Memorial Library, please say hi and let me know if you have any thoughts or interests that we can help you with,” Anderson said.