Chad Helton, a pioneering black librarian, will be new head of Hennepin County Library; Star Tribune, May 29, 2020

David Chanen, Star Tribune; Chad Helton, a pioneering black librarian, will be new head of Hennepin County Library

"As a black kid growing up in the South, Chad Helton rarely used the library because he never felt he belonged in one.

Few patrons looked like him, and the programs at the Mount Airy, N.C., library didn’t reflect his community. Little did he know then that a job delivering books in a golf cart after he dropped out of college would lead to a pioneering career as a library administrator.

Helton, the first black top administrator at several college libraries and the Los Angeles library system, was named director of the Hennepin County Library system last week. He will face the challenge of reopening libraries that have been shut down by COVID-19 and also working with communities wounded by the police-involved death of George Floyd.

“The pandemic just highlighted the important role that libraries play in people’s lives,” said Helton, 42. “This is something we’ve never experienced. It certainly will be interesting.”...

Helton had been a college dropout for eight years, working three jobs at a time and relying on friends for a place to live, when he got on the library track. While delivering books at the University of North Carolina, he ran into a former professor and mentor who stressed how working in a library can change your life.

Helton returned to UNC, earning a bachelor’s degree in African-American Studies and then master’s degrees in library and information studies and public administration."