The Charleston Library Association begins a new chapter with a business-minded leader News

Something felt different at the Charleston Library Association Thursday night.

Renowned ornithologist and poet Drew Lanham is set to share a new work at the main library. So, yes, word-wise the program was in line with the processes that have taken place in the organization in recent years.

Events like these were the brainchild of former CEO Ann Cleveland, who set out on a mission to transform the community into a cultural center using thought-focused collections.

It was a feat that drew enough of both members and their money to help propel the 275-year-old institution into its current position on Charleston’s cultural landscape, not to mention a multimillion-dollar renovation.

A major part of its growth is attracting top minds like Lanham, who often bring books with them, and are held in high esteem among the inquisitive minds of the same audience.

Known for sipping local culture wine, then find a seat in the rows lined up at the library’s fossil-covered marble lectern, where you’ll glean an insight or two from an individual near or far.

“Anne … built an amazing foundation when she came here 14 years ago,” said Jack McPadden, president of the library’s community board. Case in point: When she arrived, the community had about 400 members. Today, the number is around 2,400, a good increase this year.

“She realized what a valuable resource it was and worked tirelessly to raise the profile of the Library Association.

After Cleveland retired in January, new executive director Laura Pelzer is poised to capitalize on that momentum. But unlike the community’s founders, who were ready to break with Mother England in the late 1770s and embrace the American Revolution, Pelzer chose evolution instead.

Through ongoing subtle improvements and upgrades, Pelzer plans to expand the Institute’s awareness, strengthen its membership and increase its reach.

In detail

“These are the little things we do to make small changes,” she said, explaining that such a modus operandi informs every decision, every word and every new hire.

Pelzer likens her approach to playing a classic puppeteer over the years and a few plum roles in the corporate world. “You’re pulling the strings in the right way to make it come out the right way.”

In an interview a few days before the Lanham reading, Pelzer pulled up a chair in her well-appointed King Street office. Like the rest of the executive suite, it has been recently renovated and polished, and is stunningly elegant, with beautiful woodwork and period artwork mixed with modern touches, including a new glass wall that defines the royal red and bookcase space. Ego’s Shakespeare Library.

Pelzer’s Deft Ridgeback Goal? To borrow a term from the business world, it’s brand building. The library, after all, is a multifaceted, deeply storied idea — one that includes lending, research, and programming, not to mention the nation’s first survey.

As such, it doesn’t necessarily give a lift to the pitch that gets people through the door and into the member database.

Take Lanham’s speech. In the main library, the seating was reconfigured, creating a crescent around the MacArthur Genius Grant fellow and bard of all birds in South Carolina. Audiences noticed, and murmured approval.

Then there was the Lanham entrance. Traditionally, Cleveland has been given the personal vision of a small staff and shepherd in her role as executive.

Pelzer instead gave the assignment to her editorial director, Jessica Mischner, who offered glowing observations about Lanham’s diverse contributions to South Carolina culture. She also plans to regularly fold in different team members.

Pelzer, a slim, tall man in shiny clothes and a loose brunette updo, quietly surveyed the assembled audience members instead. During the conversation, her curious eyes scanned the room for details that might require her attention. After that, she trained those eyes on book sales and autograph lines, and she was engaging with the scattered crowd.

to business

In the thick of this age-old tradition, this historic library (the second oldest of its kind in America), Pelzer is quick to point out, is her first foray into the nonprofit world.

Her background is focused on the corporate arena, often in the luxury goods arena. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree from South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, she held marketing positions at brands including Ralph Lauren and Charleston City Electric Company.

But life, especially marriage, returned to the Palmetto State, this time to Charleston. Eventually, circles gathered with Cleveland, who had begun to retire, and were looking for ways to reinvigorate the library. She came on board as chief strategy officer, and that proved to be an effective fit.

Pelzer realizes that there are transferable skills. So was the organization’s board of trustees, many of whom have impressive business ventures in their own right.

For starters, there’s McSpadden. The board chairman is a former finance executive who served at blue-chip companies including Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Goldman Sachs.

“She also has an eye for the business side of things, and that’s important. It’s hard to blend both the culture and the business…she has both skill sets,” McSpadden said, adding that the board is being supplemented with business leaders to enhance Pelzer’s skills.

And she’s playing in her new role in administrative affairs.

She is building and motivating the team while meeting new employees like Kathryn Brack, Director of Development/Membership. And by encouraging Pelzer’s employees to be front and center, and identifying specific roles for each, she’s devising ways to keep those.

It is increasing efficiency by streamlining documents for entities such as finance.

Before she took the top job, she was formulating a strategic plan that began when she first started working at the library.

And she’s applying her marketing skills to create new partnerships and entice people to build memberships.

The organization just wrapped up its annual gala event celebrating Cleveland. To this end, Pelzer encouraged the organization to undertake a fundraising effort to strengthen the library’s special collection and restore the founders’ collection, since the Great Fire of January 17, 1778, destroyed about 5,000 of its earlier acquisitions.

After all, this is not an ordinary collection. Pelzer explained that his first goal was to preserve the Age of Enlightenment, to prevent a return to outdated ways of thinking.

So her looking back is simultaneously a way to push forward, and she’s ready to tap into her entrepreneurial spirit.

“How can we be a group that everybody wants to be, not an elitist, exclusive society, because it’s cool,” she said.

Beyond books

These days, most cool citations continue to come from a strong list of cultural events and additional offerings such as books, periodicals and papers, and research institute functions.

“The only thing that really makes us successful is the program we put together,” McSpadden said.

Programming has proven to be a linchpin to the organization’s growth, serving as a gateway to membership. Pelzer is committed to expanding its membership by offering a variety of events that include books, music, home decor, food, children’s supplies and more.

Part of the appeal is that the organization acts as a social glue, where knowledge seekers can exchange ideas and see each other’s eyes.

“There’s a collegiality, a little club around here because a lot of members know each other,” said McSpadden, who said that’s how he and his wife first met people when they moved to Charleston.

One way the library organizes its programs is at 160 King St. It is a partnership with Buxton Books, an independent bookstore that operates the library’s existing storefront and works with the organization on literary events.

A partnership with the College of Charleston is also growing. New board member Carl Wise is affiliated with the school, and plans include the goal of engaging the college community and creating partnerships with the campus’ many programs.

Zero to 275

That being said, Pelzer’s drive as a marketing professional has kept her focused on making the best hay in the company’s current 275th year. He finished many of her hours late.

They celebrate by being open to the public with a variety of special offers throughout the year.

“We drink coffee in the morning, something a little lighter at noon and maybe wine at 4 p.m.,” she says. “We will be open and everyone can come in.”

In the last week of March, there will be some anniversary exhibition in the main reading room. In April, the annual Founders Award was presented to library regular and bestselling author David M. He respects Rubenstein. The month of September is devoted to oral history projects, an ongoing project featuring stories from the Charleston Library Society.

“We want the stories to speak for the library association, whether good or bad, if they can,” she says, explaining how this opens the door for other stories and voices to come to light. “As a record institution that can do that, we want to capture some of that.”

So far, McSpedden said, things are going great.

“She puts a lot of new irons in the fire that we don’t go through, but she thinks needs to be done…she fills her plate big with things she wants to do.”

For more information, visit charletonlibrarysociety.org.