After changing Delaware’s library system forever, she’s stepping away

For most, 41 years of service is more than enough. For State Librarian Annie Norman, though, even retirement can’t slow her down.

“The work is never done; there’s always something to do,” she said. “I’m going to have to continue to help in other ways.”

Norman will step away this fall after 24 years as the Delaware state librarian and director of the Delaware Division of Libraries.

Throughout her tenure, Norman made waves; the director helped create the Delaware Library Consortium, which allowed all of Delaware’s Public libraries to share items, and brought the library system along during a wave of technological change. For these achievements, she was named to the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame in 2016 and appointed by President Joe Biden as a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board.

We spoke with Norman as she wraps up an accomplished career about her proudest achievements, and the state of libraries in 2026.

Question: As you look back on your tenure, what was your proudest accomplishment?

Answer: What I’ll be known for more than anything is probably the statewide library catalog and consortium. The politics of bringing all of those libraries together, after years of there being four separate library catalogs in Delaware, took about eight years. More recently, I think bringing the school libraries into that catalog is going to be really significant. We’ve got more than 50 school libraries to be a part of the statewide catalog, something we think can really help with the literacy crisis in this state. 

One of the biggest challenges of your tenure was adjusting to the large wave of technology that came about. How have you and the Delaware libraries handled it?

It’s been very systematic. We have a great IT team that helps manage for us, as well as the state funding 100% of library technologies. The growth of the iPhone has certainly had a huge impact on literacy, but we’re really just working hard to bring back the excitement of reading. 

The Delaware libraries’ programming have always been a popular resource. How important do you view these offerings to local communities, and will they continue to expand?

Yes, libraries are about enrichment, which means helping support people in things like entrepreneurship, education and innovation. We’ve had libraries start up job centers, which were so successful we could expand to entrepreneurship, and even help with more basic social needs, by starting a “social innovation team” to help with more of the social services-type work.

Where we still struggle is we can only help people access Delaware systems to help with their needs, not fix things within those systems. For that reason, we always encourage these systems to work with us, so the Delaware library system can fit everyone’s needs. 

Cuts toward libraries just occurred in New Castle County, with the potential for more to come. How will the library system look to stay afloat?

Because of the economy, because of federal changes, things can get difficult, it’s not the first time we’ve experienced budget cuts.  We’ve progressed significantly over the years, but there is much more work to do, and I don’t know that the public understands how critical libraries and librarians are to literacy.

The power of walking into a library and being able to choose what you want to read for a child is powerful, and until people understand that, we can’t achieve our literacy goals.

Adam Denn is an intern reporter for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach him at apdenn@delawareonline.com.

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