For Immediate Release
MATTOON – Beth Suerdieck Pugh is the new community engagement director at the Mattoon Public Library.
Pugh will be responsible for leading patron services and related training, for overseeing facility usage including the community conference center in the lower basement, for diversifying library marketing efforts and for helping expand the library’s community outreach.
“Beth’s experience in retail, in marketing and in personnel management fits with the library’s needs as we continue to identify and deploy growth initiatives in our building and throughout our community,” said library director Carl Walworth. “Our patrons and community will appreciate her professionalism, her high-energy approach and commitment to meaningful, impactful work.”
A Mattoon native, Pugh worked in Nashville, Tenn., from 2001 to 2017. She progressed to store manager of the flagship Bath & Body Works store at the Galleria in Franklin, Tenn., leading an operation with two assistant managers, two sales leads and up to 90 sales associates during peak times. She spent five years as district manager for Beeline Imports and Services, handling a multi-state territory in which she hired, trained and led a team that included an area manager and 24 merchandisers throughout the Southeast. She was selected to facilitate several training programs for company-wide events.
In Mattoon, Pugh got her first taste of retail from her late mother, Carolyn, who was a partner in the Picket Fence.
“Beth’s retail background aligns with the library process of selecting and purchasing materials that consumers want, attractively displaying those items and making people feel good about the experience,” Walworth said. “Beth’s many community connections will be a benefit in developing collaborative partnerships.”
Pugh said she’s looking forward to working with the library staff, patrons and community organizations to expand the library role as a community cornerstone.
“I’m eager to use the skills I’ve developed in my career and learn new things that make a difference in people’s lives,” Pugh said.
Pugh and her husband, Nate, the principal at Mattoon Middle School, moved back to Mattoon in June.