Homewood Library names Wright new director

Judith Wright is no stranger to the Homewood Public Library. 

In 2010, she was hired to work part-time in the children’s department, her first paid library role, but not her last. 

After years of service to the Homewood Library, Wright has officially been named the new director, following the retirement of Deborah Fout in May.

Wright completed her master's degree in library and information studies in 2011 from the University of Alabama. After gaining additional experience at the Hoover Public Library, she shifted to full-time in the circulation department at Homewood. In 2012, she was offered the reference librarian position at the Albert L. Scott Library in Alabaster.  

She returned to Homewood in 2014 as the teen librarian and promised to stay for good. As the teen librarian, she increased circulation by more than 60%, formed a robust Teen Advisory Board, went from 22 programs a year to more than 300 programs, and secured grant funding for NASA@ My Library and the Great Stories Club grant from the American Library Association. She developed the first telescope lending program in the state of Alabama and is currently the only librarian in Alabama certified to borrow lunar and meteorite samples from NASA. Wright was recently awarded the Outstanding Youth Services Award from the Alabama Library Association for recognition of her work with teens.  

In October 2019, she was promoted to assistant director/teen librarian where she worked with Deborah Fout, the former library director, in administration. After Fout’s retirement, Wright became the interim director where she led the library through its operations. In June, the library’s Board Of Trustees selected Wright as the seventh director of the Homewood Public Library.  

In this new position, Wright said, “I’ve been very blessed in my library career to work at Homewood and now I have the privilege to lead this library and the amazing team of staff. This is such a wonderful community to be part of because Homewood values its public library. This library means the world to me and I’m very honored to help it grow in new and innovative ways."

-- Submitted by Laura Tucker