Summit County Library Director Dan Compton celebrated his 20th anniversary with the county in September.
“I love the way it all worked out because I started as a library clerk part time,” Compton said. “I’ve been able to have jobs in all different aspects of the library, so when I became director, I had an understanding of what is required to do those jobs, and I have empathy for the folks in those positions and know what their challenges may be.”
Compton is from Green River, Wyoming, and moved to Salt Lake City to attend Westminster University. By the time he graduated from college, he knew he wanted to work in library sciences as a career, which led him to the part-time opening in Summit County.
“I was looking at starting a master’s program, and I just wanted to get some experience working in a library,” Compton said. “I was able to get the part-time job here, and I’ve surprisingly been here ever since.”
Originally, Compton was interested in becoming a teacher. He ultimately changed his mind, though, and decided to explore similar pathways, which led him to library sciences.
“It jumped out to me as a way to still serve my community and still have opportunities for a teaching-type career because you’re helping people with education and libraries offer a lot of different programs,” he said. “It really appealed to me, and I’m glad I ended up choosing this career. It’s worked out well for me, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Compton has held a variety of positions with the library throughout the years, including reference librarian, circulation supervisor and assistant director. He was promoted to his current directorial position in 2011.
“I really like the way it’s worked out,” Compton said. “Being a leader is great, but I do like how I’ve done all of these jobs. I feel like I have a greater understanding of what they entail, and I can be a bigger help here in that way.”
As the director, Compton works closely with community groups and board members to plan for the library’s future. He travels frequently between the system’s different branches to assess his employees’ needs, but he also still works in purchasing and programming on occasion.
“I’ve never fully given that up because it’s something that I love to do,” he said. “If our staff is interested and wants to be involved in programming, we try to give them that opportunity. We think it makes the job so much more exciting when you can share your passions with the community.”
Compton’s own passion project — the Book to Film Club — has been running since 2014. The monthly club reads a book that has been made into a movie and then gathers together to watch the film adaptation for a discussion.
As a 20-year library veteran, Compton said he’s also no stranger to adapting technologies. He said the biggest change he’s seen since 2005 is the rising popularity of audiobooks, which patrons can borrow through services like Libby and OverDrive.
“In the last seven or eight years, they’ve exploded in popularity,” Compton said. “The publishers have also raised prices for libraries to purchase some of the content to make it available, so that’s provided a lot of challenges for us because the demand is rising like crazy, and we’re unable to keep up with it with our limited budget for collections.”
But “traditional circulation” numbers, or the number of people checking out regular ink-and-paper books, is still significantly higher than most people might expect, Compton said.
The library also offers more programs than ever before, and Compton said there’s something happening almost every day at one of the county’s three branches.
“That’s something that I love to see because it really makes the place a community hub,” Compton said. “Our libraries are also getting really creative with lending out nontraditional items. We call it the ‘Library of Things,’ like if you need a blood pressure kit or something like that. … It’s fun to see how libraries evolve, and it’s fun to be a part of that.”
Compton and his staff are working toward a big goal in 2026: moving into the Kimball Junction building formerly occupied by Skullcandy. The Summit County government is transforming the property into its state-of-the-art government facility, including a new space entirely dedicated to the library.
“We also have a goal to capture people’s memories of (the Richins Building), what they loved about this building and trying to record some of those thoughts and feelings so that we don’t lose that,” Compton said. “We don’t want to lose the history that we have here, but we are very excited to have this new space and more room and to be able to do more than we have in the past.”
The new library area will have more meeting and study rooms, as well as a larger children’s section and an outdoor patio.
“It’s interesting for me because I’ve been fortunate to be involved in the move in Coalville to the current facility and in Kamas as they built a new facility there,” Compton said. “Now, this is coming full circle to have the opportunity to be involved with the Kimball Junction branch moving to a new location.”
Compton said he’s excited to see how the community will adapt to the new space and make it their own, especially because the library is often a gathering place for people craving human connection.
“The library is one of the only places left where you can go and there isn’t an expectation of having to spend money,” he said. “It’s just a place you can go and be. You can pursue your interests. You can come have a quiet space if you need to study. You can come to a program and make a connection with people who have similar interests as you. Whatever it is, we’ve got that for you, and I think people need more spaces like that.”
Information on the Summit County Library, including programming and an online catalog, is available by visiting thesummitcountylibrary.org.