About


Welcome to 21st Century Library Blog. This blog offers a collaborative forum for the library community, and anyone else interested in the subject of creating 21st Century libraries and librarians.

Please contribute your thoughts and opinions on this and related topics.

The Blog was established by Dr. Stephen A. Matthews, whose doctorate is in Adult and Continuing Education, Kansas State University, and later earned his MLS from Emporia State University, Emporia (KS) Campus in 1996.

In his previous career as a US Army officer, Steve served two combat tours as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, and also had tours as helicopter flight instructor, academic instructor, unit commander, unit logistician and unit training officer. Prior to his PhD, Steve earned a master’s degree in Systems Management (Peter Drucker not computers) from USC in 1982. After retiring with 25 years of military service, Steve has also been the:
• Training Director, TATCA Program, Federal Aviation Administration at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Naval Air Station, CA,
• Dean, Cranford College in Hutchinson, KS,
• Director, Overland Park Campus of Kansas Wesleyan University, and
• Director, Research and Publications Division, Koch Crime Institute in Topeka, KS.

Steve has several years experience as Adjunct Faculty, Criminal Justice Department, Washburn University in Topeka, KS, where he taught three online distance learning courses in School Violence, Gangs, and Legal Liability of Enforcing School Discipline. At Emporia State University while pursuing the MLS degree, he taught presentation graphics software courses to ESU faculty and staff. Steve was an Assistant Professor of Business at Kansas Wesleyan University’s Overland Park (KS) Campus where he taught Business Administration, Marketing Research and Management Information Systems courses to undergraduate students.  For the first five years of this century he and his wife owned their own business developing education technology in Kansas, where he gained experience in distance education. Since early 2007, Steve has been a Library Consultant for the Utah State Library. As of March 2015, Dr. Matthews has fully retired and with his wife, and high school sweetheart, has returned home to Kansas.

In June, 2014, Kimberly Matthews, then Executive Director of the Trenton (NJ) Free Public Library, took the lead of this 21st Century Library Blog and experienced almost instant growth in followers. Kimberly is also Founder and CEO of KD Matthews Consulting.

In her nearly 25 years in libraries, Kimberly has held a wide range of professional and administrative positions in a variety of academic, school, corporate, and public library settings such as the Smithsonian Institution, NASA, Washington State University, and various public library systems across the US. She has established community partnerships, worked with local government, served in library management during multi-million dollar capital projects, been the project leader of significant strategic planning processes, and implemented numerous technological innovations to improve library services.

Kimberly has served on the Executive Boards of the Central New Jersey Regional Library Cooperative and LYRASIS and participated in professional organizations including the Utah and New Jersey Library Association, and American Library Association. Through these experiences, she has developed a broad perspective on issues effecting our profession as a whole. Her advanced degrees in both Library Science and Business Administration combine to create a unique approach to the library profession. She works to promote the infusion of sound business principles into the practice of librarianship while holding paramount the values and ethics that are the foundations of the profession.

As Executive Director, Kimberly led the Trenton (NJ) Free Public Library since early 2008 through two downsizings due to budget cuts of nearly 50%. She re-engineered all internal processes for increased fiscal responsibility and economy of resources, and implemented new policies for all areas of service and operation. Before Trenton, Kimberly spent nearly a decade as a branch manager, manager of Technical Services and management team member of the award winning Salt Lake City Public Library where her numerous responsibilities included Planning Committee Chairperson that crafted SLCPL’s ground-breaking 2007-2009 Strategic Plan.

Kimberly has also co-authored Crash Course in Strategic Planning with her father, Steve Matthews, published in August 2013 by Libraries Unlimited.

Kimberly moved up to be the Assistant Director for Public Services, Technical Services and Marketing, Miami-Dade Public Library System – the 7th largest public library system in the U.S. – in charge of 400 employees in 2015. After two years in that position, she accepted an offer from Monroe County (FL) to become its Senior Director of Strategic Planning. In 2019 she was additionally appointed to be the Monroe County Library System Executive Director, where her extensive library experience was essential in supervising construction of the most modern and technologically advanced library branch in the State – Marathon Branch, Monroe County (FL) Library System.

Please contribute your ideas and experiences, and share with our library community what works in your library!

DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions stated on this Blog are those of the authors ALONE, who are solely responsible for all content Posted to this Blog.