Julia Pehrson did not arrive at the Murray City Library as an outsider with a mandate to change it. She came up through it. Pehrson took over library operations last fall after the departure of outgoing director Kim Fong.

“I was born and raised in Murray, attended Murray schools, and spent time at the Murray City Library as a child,” she said.

Her path to the director’s office began in the stacks. As a high school student, she took a job shelving books—a routine, part-time role that rarely signals a future in leadership. At the time, she said, the job was just that.

Newly installed Murray City Library Director Julia Pehrson (left) with outgoing director Kim Fong. (Photo courtesy of Julia Pehrson)

"When I first started working at the library, I never imagined it would turn into a career, let alone that I would one day become the director,” Pehrson said.

The work was tactile. Physical. Analog.

“Those early days were filled with things like shelving books, using a physical card catalog, changing typewriter tape and doing puppet shows,” she said.

The library itself functioned differently then—before digital catalogs, before downloadable media, before Wi-Fi became expected infrastructure. But Pehrson stayed. First part time. Then full time.

She had considered another path. After high school, she trained in barbering and cosmetology. It was a viable career. A practical one. But the offer from the library—full-time, stable—shifted the trajectory.

“Over time, what started as a job I had while I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, became a career and place that I love and believe in the value it brings to the community,” she said.

What followed was not a rapid ascent but a gradual accumulation of responsibility. Cataloging. Budgets. Collections. Staff oversight. Facility management. Marketing. The operational mechanics of a public institution.

She earned degrees along the way—business marketing, then a Master’s in Business. Internally, she moved through the ranks, eventually serving eight years as assistant director. Then, last fall, the directorship.

“In many ways, I grew up at the library—and over time, the library became a part of who I am,” she said.

By the time she assumed leadership, the institution had already undergone a quiet transformation—one she had witnessed firsthand.

“We’ve gone from cassette tapes, physical card catalogs, and typewriters to downloadable ebooks, audiobooks, streaming services, digital catalogs, Wi-Fi and public computers,” Pehrson said.

The shift was not abrupt. It was incremental. Layered. Each change responding to evolving expectations—of access, of speed, of format.

Now, as director, Pehrson faces a familiar tension: how to maintain continuity while adapting to what comes next.

“Both honoring the library’s legacy and bringing a clear vision forward are important, but ultimately, the needs of the community are what guide those decisions,” she said.

Her focus, she said, is not on reinvention for its own sake. It is on alignment—matching services to need, space to function, access to demand.

“In the coming years, I see opportunities for us to better meet people where they are,” she said.

That includes physical space—how it is used, who it serves—and the reach of the library beyond its walls.

The modern library, in her view, is no longer defined by its collection alone.

“A modern library is much more than a place to check out books—it’s a community hub,” Pehrson said.

The services reflect that shift. Book delivery for homebound residents. Technology lending—hotspots, telescopes. Digital access through platforms like Libby and Hoopla. Programs that extend beyond children to teens and adults.

The goal is access—broad, flexible and continuous.

“The library continues to provide physical materials for those who want to hold a book in their hand and turn the page, while also expanding access to digital resources,” she said.

For Pehrson, the argument for the library is not theoretical. It is experiential.

She points to books that altered her understanding of the world—moments of perspective that, in her telling, accumulate quietly but persist.

“I believe having access to books, information, and having the freedom to read is vastly important and changes lives,” she said.

The library, she said, remains a point of connection—a place where those individual experiences intersect with a broader civic role.

“The library plays an important role in fostering connection and supporting the growth of the community,” she said.

There are no sweeping declarations about transformation. No promises of disruption. Instead, a steady posture.

“The Murray City Library aims to create a sense of belonging for everyone who walks through our doors,” Pehrson said.

In Murray, the building has not moved. The mission, Pehrson suggests, hasn’t either. But the way it is carried out—quietly, incrementally—continues to evolve.