By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
A new librarian will be at the helm of the Big Sky Community Library come July this year. Pamela Butterworth will take on the role after years of management experience in hospitality and customer service, as well as time working as the assistant librarian at BSCL.
A Jan. 23 press release from the library outlined Butterworth’s accomplishments. “Pam has an impressive track record at the library in less than a year, having successfully managed the internal workings of the library, programming initiatives, and patron interactions,” the release stated.
Butterworth has lived in Big Sky for 35 years and the library said she is “passionate about the library” and that it “can’t wait to see how her vision unfolds in the coming months.”
Erica Oglevie, the interim executive director, will stay with the team until June 30, guiding the library crew and Butterworth in the Resort Tax grant application process. Afterward, she will move away from Big Sky to be closer with family.
Oglevie joined the library team in June 2022 as a librarian assistant. In September 2023, she was selected as the library’s interim executive director and handled front-of-house library operations as well as operations behind the scenes like applications for funding. BSCL is a standalone community library and acts as a nonprofit, receiving funding from Resort Tax and other grant partners.
Oglevie said the unique context behind the library, which shares space with the Big Sky School District, meant that the next leader would need to understand the collaborations that keep the library open.
“So when you try to hire somebody for that, are you hiring someone to run a nonprofit or are you hiring somebody to run a library,” Oglevie said in a phone call to EBS.
She said that when Butterworth started, herself and the Friends of the Big Sky Community Library board saw her skills in welcoming and helping patrons.
“There’s a lot of communication and she handled that beautifully,” Oglevie said. “And then she started stepping up with making sure that additional work was getting done without being asked.”
Butterworth has experience working in management of the Big Sky Resort Conference Service Department, the Gallatin Gateway Inn, The Baxter and the River Rock Lodge—experience that Oglevie believes prepares her to take on the administrative and planning side of the library, as well as helping community members find what they are looking for.
But a Christmas card from Butterworth to Oglevie really sealed the deal. “I think what was the the tipping point for me was I got a Christmas card from Pam thanking me for giving her a chance at a dream job like this,” Oglevie remembered. She said that Butterworth has more than exceeded expectations of who she would look for in lead librarian.
Oglevie also highlighted a fully staffed seven-person board that can collaborate with library staff to take the public service into its next chapter. She looks forward to the library expanding its services to the community, including a possible independent location one day and expanded hours, a mobile library unit for community members, and streamlining resort tax funding.
“I think they’re very proactive,” Oglevie said of the library team. She said that the transition is a shift toward more stability. “We’ve got things moving in a positive way.”
