Under Leadership of Harry Courtright, Maricopa Libraries Adapted to "the Public's Morphing Needs"

Maricopa County libraries become more technologically savvy. (Arizona Republic, 7/30/2011)

Excerpt: Walk into a Maricopa County library, and it may feel more like a commercial bookstore: card catalogs are a thing of the past and the Dewey Decimal System, the standard book-classification method for more than 100 years, is obsolete.

In the past decade, the county's public libraries have gone through several makeovers. Some of them are conspicuous, such as self-checkout kiosks and solar panels at the White Tank branch. Others, not so obvious - for example, the virtual library branch has a growing selection of e-books and downloadable music.

Staying relevant has been the primary challenge facing public libraries during the 12 years that Harry Courtright has been director of the Maricopa County Library District. Google is fast replacing encyclopedias and library references as a source of information, and many people prefer to access materials online rather than physically going to a library.

Over the years, Courtright, 73, has stuck to his philosophy of adapting to the public's morphing needs, and making his libraries more customer-friendly. During his tenure, he has expanded the library district from seven to 17 libraries across the Valley, and a virtual branch connects them all. Some of his changes have gained national attention, most notably scrapping the Dewey system.