New executive director has been selected for the Wilton Library

Caroline Mandler has been selected as the next executive director of the Wilton Library Association, upon the Wilton Library’s recent announcement on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Mandler will assume the role officially on Monday, March 7. The new library head will succeed Elaine Tai-Lauria, who retired from her post on Monday, Jan. 31, after 10 years leading the organization. Mandler will join the Wilton Library after working for 11 years at the Darien Library. She most recently served as the assistant director of operations in Darien. Her responsibilities included handling the library’s budget, finance, fundraising, human resources, materials management and strategic and capital planning for the future. Mandler also had a large role in planning and executing the Darien Library’s annual Campaign Fundraiser and creating and managing budgets for the Town of Darien and the Darien Friends of the Library group. For two months in 2020, Mandler even served as the acting director of the Darien Library, at which point she oversaw the library’s initital re-opening after lockdown from the coronavirus pandemic and the many adaptations it had to make. Before joining the Darien Library, Mandler worked in donor relations and management for nonprofit organizations in New York. “I am delighted to welcome Caroline as the new Executive Director of Wilton Library Association,” President of the Wilton Library Association Board of Trustees Rob Sanders said. “She brings 15 years of management experience in all facets of library and nonprofit work.” He continued. “After an exhaustive search that identified a slate of talented candidates, she emerged as the one most qualified to lead Wilton Library in the next phase of its growth and development. In welcoming Caroline, I also want to pay tribute to Elaine Tai-Lauria, under whose enlightened and inspired leadership Wilton Library has gone from strength to strength in the last decade, including most recently the acquisition of The Brubeck Collection,” Sanders said. The new library head shared her excitement in a release. “It is an honor to have been selected as Wilton Library’s new Executive Director,” Mandler said. “It is a truly inspirational place and I am looking forward to embracing the opportunities and challenges it faces in the future.” “Libraries have a vital role to play in the cultural life of the communities they serve. Understanding and responding to the changing needs and demands of our patrons in Wilton and elsewhere will always be paramount in my approachm” she said. “I am excited to work with the library’s very talented team and to build on Elaine’s strategic partnerships with other Wilton organizations and community leaders.” She will be responsible for picking up where Tai-Lauria left off and heading the full scope of fundraising efforts for the library in the future. Mandler also will work closely with the Wilton Library Association Board of Trustees and staff with the goal of maintaining a library that anticipates and fulfills the needs of its growing community by utilizing all of the resources available. For more than 126 years, the Wilton Library has served as the “cultural and intellectual center of Wilton with the mission to inform, enrich, connect, and inspire the community,” according to the library. It continues to provide a wide range of programs and events for all age groups and interests. The Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road. For more information, visit www.wiltonlibrary.org or contact Wilton Library Marketing Communications Manager Nuchada Julavits at njulavits@wiltonlibrary.org or 203-762-6324.

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