Bev Clarkson’s life at the Pittsburg Public Library 

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Bev Clarkson began as a reference assistant at the Pittsburg Public Library in 2000. Now, 26 years later, she holds the position of library director, overseeing the entire facility. 

A passion, but not yet a purpose

Growing up in Weir, Kansas, Clarkson was a frequent library goer as a kid. In some of her earliest memories, she recalls falling in love with the “Hardy Boys” books after her local librarian suggested the series to her.  

“It was like the angels sang,” Clarkson recalled. “That was my thing, and so I read all the ‘Hardy Boys’ and ‘Nancy Drew,’ and all the mysteries, and I became a huge reader.” 

While Clarkson said that she’s always been an avid reader, she doesn’t necessarily equate it with being a librarian. In fact, while attending Pittsburg State University, not yet sure of what she wanted to do, she majored in history, English, and art. 

Out of college, Clarkson married her first husband, who was in the military. 

“I really didn’t have a chance to work at that time,” Clarkson said. “We were moving around a lot, and then I had two kids.” 

Busy start

After moving back to Pittsburg almost 26 years ago, Clarkson saw an ad in the newspaper that a position had opened for a reference assistant at the library. 

“I got hired for that,” she said, “and I discovered I really, really liked it.” 

As Clarkson continued to work as a reference assistant, Gail Sheppard, who retired from the library in January 2026, asked Clarkson to work for her as well in the youth services department. At this point, working a combined 40 hours in both departments, Clarkson was enrolled in graduate school at Emporia State. 

“I had started graduate school for history,” she said. “So, I had half of a master’s in history before I decided, ‘I think I’m going to change to library science.’” 

During this time, in addition to her 40-hour workload and being a single parent, Clarkson drove to Emporia, Kansas, on weekends to attend classes Friday nights, Saturdays, and into Sundays.

Shortly after, Clarkson was hired as a full-time employee at the library and became a young adult librarian for several years until completing her degree, after which she became the assistant director. 

Clarkson said that while graduate school was valuable for her, the prior experience she had while working in various positions at the library eventually played a huge role in her ability to take over as library director. 

“I think you’re a much better manager and director if you kind of come up through the ranks a little bit,” she said. “You know everybody’s perspective. You know what job they’ve done.” 

View from the top

Clarkson said that while her role is essential, many people don’t realize what all goes into it and admits that to people outside the library, there is an air of mystery to her position. 

“I think that they don’t realize all of the things I have to do behind the scenes to keep this place operational,” she said. “There’s a lot of legal things.” 

Clarkson explained that her personal philosophy in coordinating her various roles is known as the ‘5 B’s.’ These roles include everything from the board and the budget to the bills, the building, and—well, the rest. 

“The bitching,” she said. “If anybody has a complaint, whether it be a staff member or whether it be a member of the public or a board member, the buck stops with me.” 

Another responsibility Clarkson holds is overseeing and maintaining the connections among the several departments. 

Public services manager Kailey Curtis said that while the library can feel segmented, Clarkson has done a great job in maintaining a through-line among all of the departments. 

“I do think that the library has in the past been sort of departmental,” Curtis said. “Bev still did a great job of keeping cohesion and consistency throughout the entire library.” 

Curtis first started working in both the youth and adult services departments part-time in 2022 and took on the position of public services after Shepherd’s retirement. Similar to Clarkson’s past, Curtis is working on her master’s in library and information sciences and said that Clarkson has been a huge support in her journey at the library. 

“She was very encouraging with my journey to doing the master’s in library and information science,” Curtis said. “She just has been extremely supportive, and I look up to her a lot as someone who wants to make librarianship their career because she’s just good at her job, and I think she’s a person I’d want to emulate in my career.” 

Clarkson said that part of the value of the library is the services it provides for the community and believes that the three core services of technology, programs and collections are what make libraries so essential. 

“I always want to say, we give more than we take,” Clarkson said.