Photo by Kelli S. Hewett.
Judith Wright has directed the Homewood Public Library since 2022, overseeing a calendar of more than 100 free events each month.
If you think libraries are relics of shushing and silence, Judith Wright would like a word.
“It’s not quiet,” said Wright, director of the Homewood Public Library since 2022. “We are kind of a community center and a hub for ideas, discovery, imagination — and you can’t do that and be quiet.”
For Wright, a library should feel alive — full of conversation, movement and discovery — not defined by rules and whispers.
There are study rooms and quieter corners, yes. But there are also thriving children’s story times and a bustling calendar of art and technology classes, music lessons, food workshops and more.
“I am one of those people who you hear about who loves their job,” Wright said. “It’s not work. It is a privilege.”
On May 18, Homewood Public Library’s summer reading programs shifted into high gear with back‑to‑back story times, performances, art classes, and special events aimed at kids, teens and adults. The theme for the kids and teen programs is Unearth a Story.
Wright sees the season as a kind of open invitation.
“We kick it in high gear all year ‘round, then in summer, we run nonstop because we want to be able to provide events at all different times for all different ages,” she said. “We’re the last free place in society. There’s no expectation to spend money here.”
This year’s summer lineup includes puppeteers, art classes and hands-on activities like a dinosaur egg hunt.
“Because, why not?” Wright said.
She still remembers her own journey, the first time a library card felt like a ticket to the wider world.
“My dad took me to my public library as a kid, and I got a card. It was orange,” Wright said. “I could borrow three books. That was the limit on the card. Now you can borrow 150 items, and I will help you carry them to your car.”
Books and libraries have been part of the story of Wright’s life — from the kid reading horse books and Beverly Cleary books with the mischievous Ramona Quimby, to the teen volunteering in school libraries, to the adult who believes that a community’s public library belongs at the center of family life.
“I was the kid that was under the covers with a flashlight all night,” she said.
That early love of reading eventually led her to a part-time job in Homewood’s children’s department in 2010. She earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and her master’s degree in library and information studies at the University of Alabama.
Photo courtesy of Homewood Public Library
Wright reads with her husband, Daniel Warren, and daughter, Scarlett Rae Wright Warren, at the Homewood Public Library. Wright enrolled Scarlett Rae in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” program, reflecting the same values she champions at work.
“I fell in love with Homewood because the community just cares so much about their library,” Wright said.
She left twice for opportunities in other systems, including Hoover and Shelby County, but each time she found herself drawn back.
“I can’t tell you what secret sauce is in the recipe,” she said. “But sometimes you think you’re taking care of the community. The community is taking care of us.”
Away from the stacks, Wright’s life is rooted in many of the same values she champions at work: family, service, stories.
She and her husband, Daniel Warren, have a 2‑and‑a‑half‑year‑old daughter with a name that sounds like it belongs on the spine of a legal thriller: Scarlett Rae Wright Warren.
“She was named for Scarlett O’Hara [from ‘Gone with the Wind’],” Wright said. “And Rae is my middle name, so I gave her a double name, and then my maiden name is Wright, and so it’s her middle name. So she got a law firm name, Scarlett Rae Wright Warren.”
Books are already part of Scarlett Rae’s daily landscape.
At Scarlett’s baby showers, guests were asked to bring their favorite picture books instead of cards. Now she’s enrolled in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” program — and her mother is still the one maxing out the card on board books.
Photo courtesy of Homewood Public Library
Wright assists a patron at the checkout desk. Beyond books, patrons can borrow musical instruments, sewing machines, bubble machines, pressure washers and telescopes, with the library allowing up to 150 items per checkout. Photos courtesy of Homewood Public Library.
When Wright does get a moment to herself, you’re likely to find her on the couch with a memoir or historical fiction or working her way through a romance novel.
“I love happy endings and fairy tales,” Wright said. “You want everything to wrap up with a pretty bow at the end.”
Wright’s passion and mindset has pushed the library far beyond its traditional role.
The result is a calendar that now includes more than 100 events each month, most of them free.
“[Her] career has been marked by innovation, service and a deep investment in people,” said Laura Tucker, administration librarian at the Homewood Public Library. “She leads with purpose and inspires both staff and community members to see the library as a place of opportunity and connection.”
Alongside books and study spaces, patrons can check out musical instruments, sewing machines, bubble machines, pressure washers and telescopes. They can take free guitar and violin classes, attend writing groups or sign up for workshops that range from art to food. And many of them are sparked by community suggestions.
“I always say we’re a ‘yes’ library,” Wright said. “If you have an idea or suggestion, we’re not going to tell you why we can’t do that. We’re going to tell you yes. And let’s figure out how to make this happen.”
For more on the Homewood Public Library’s summer reading programs and events, or to register, go online to homewoodpubliclibrary.org.
