

Laurel Morris knows how long it can take for a very special dream to come true.


For her, the wait was 40 years.


She was but 13 years old when she decided she wanted to be a library director.


She was 53 when she became director of the Gaston County Public Library system.


Her service to Gaston County will officially end on Wednesday, Sept. 30, as she retires after 33 and a half years with the library system.


Beginnings


Morris, 60, is a native of New Hampshire, the Granite State, which is why, she laughingly explains, "I am so hard-headed."


Thus opens a conversation of more than an hour with a Gazette reporter in the board room of the main library on Garrison Boulevard in Gastonia.


Peterborough is a small town of fewer than 5,000 people, but it had a marvelous library.


That is to be expected, as the first tax-supported, free library in the United States was established there by the Town Council back in 1833.


"The library was a safe haven for me," Morris remembers of that time some five decades ago. "I could immerse myself in biography or in fiction and get away from some issues in my personal life."


"I was the type of nerd who would check out 20 books at a time," she remembered. "The library staff started to look at me like I was the library mascot. And the library director was a very neat person who always treated me with kindness."


It was there, as golden sunlight streamed through the windows on a glorious October afternoon, that Morris realized she wanted to be a library director herself.


"I kept thinking I’d change my mind," Morris said, "but I never did. My only other career choice was bass guitarist in a rock band and I can’t really play the bass."


On to college


Knowing that a bachelor’s degree was the first step on the road to becoming a library director, Morris chose Wells College, a small, women-only school in upstate New York.


Although she majored in history with a minor in music, what she learned best at the school were concepts of successful leadership.


"At a small school, with only women, obviously it was up to women to step up if things were going to get done," Morris said. "There were lots of opportunities to make a difference."


During her years at Wells, Morris planned to go on to Simmons College in Boston to pursue her master’s degree in library science.


A visit to Chapel Hill, where her grandparents had retired, changed that plan.


"One spring break, I took the train to Chapel Hill and spent a week with my grandparents. I went to the planetarium. I saw a play. I really liked the campus. I figured I would move south for two years, get my degree, and then go right back north.


Morris received her master’s degree in the spring of 1984, but in the interim she had met her first husband, Donnie Hicks, now executive director of the Gaston Economic Development Commission.


Newly married, the pair looked for jobs all over the region with Hicks being offered a job in Gastonia while Morris went to work at the library of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina.


The Gaston Library system


Morris began her career at the Gaston County Public Library as a reference supervisor in 1987. Three years later, she became the collection development supervisor and at the same time served as the systems administrator.


In 1996, she was promoted to assistant library director and became director in 2013.


Soon after joining the system, she completed her second master’s degree, this one in public administration from UNC Charlotte.


"I wanted to be fully ready to be a director when the time came," she said of her decision to pursue a second master’s. "I wanted to know how libraries fit into the overall system of county government and county management. I felt I needed the same education as my peers around the county had."


One of the things Morris is most proud of from her 33 years of service is leading the effort to computerize the county library system starting in 1994.


"We had to completely redo the way we operated," she recalled. "We had to install computers in every branch and train people in how to use them. We had to bar code every library item in every branch and manually transfer so much information, but we got it done."


Certainly, Morris has been witness to profound change in the ways libraries operate, with computers making resources available that could only be dreamed of 40 years ago.


"But the one thing that hasn’t changed," she said, "is the library being a valuable part of the community and serving the public. We have built so many partnerships and had such great times here."


"We couldn’t have accomplished the things we have without having a wonderful staff," Morris continued. "They are so tremendously creative. They come to me with ideas and I try my best to see those ideas fulfilled."


Looking ahead


The last six months have not been easy one for Morris or her staff as the library has been mostly closed to the public due to restrictions imposed by Gov. Roy Cooper during to the COVID-19 pandemic.


"Not having the book sale this spring was especially tough," she said. "I think of all the people who stand in line and wait patiently to get in. I love being the person who greets them at the door. People say reading is dying. Not in Gaston County. People love to read and they love to own books."


As to plans for her new life beginning Oct. 1, Morris said, "I plan to jump fully into volunteer work. I’m the upcoming president of the Rotary Club, and there is a lot I’ll be doing there."


She and her husband, Jim Morris, have planned a trip to Europe for the upcoming spring, and the couple wants to spend more time with daughters Allison and Carolyn.


And the other thing Morris is really looking forward to?


"I’ll have time to read," she says with a smile. "That will be wonderful."


Bill Poteat, who misses being able to slip off to the library in the middle of the day, may be reached at 704-869-1855 or bpoteat@gastongazette.com.
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