The Public Library of Catasauqua is in a period of transition as it bids a fond farewell to beloved director Kath Morris, who has retired and will be returning to her native England with her husband in the near future. At the same time, the library is welcoming the new director, Brad Rogers, who comes to them from Bethlehem Area Public Library.

Rogers is no stranger to Catasauqua. Having been born in Easton, he grew up in Williams Township, close to the Delaware River in Coffeetown. Since he went to school at Wilson, he was familiar with Catasauqua through sports, particularly baseball, since the two schools were in the same league.

After high school, Rogers attended Moravian College and studied English/liberal arts and worked locally while he decided on his next move. He chose to pursue a master’s degree, but he hoped to find an English literature program that included some aspects of folklore, for which he had developed a fascination over the years.

He found a graduate program at a school in Louisiana with an English department with a folklore concentration. In that way, he was able to use his English education to get admitted and study folklore as well as the obligatory English literature. He studied there for two years before returning to Pennsylvania.

Rogers said he was searching for work in museums when he came back and didn’t have any luck for about six months until he “fell into” a teaching job at East Stroudsburg University in freshman composition in the middle of the year. He took the job and started teaching, realizing before long that he liked it. He decided if he was going to continue, he would need to get a Ph.D.

He ended up at Lehigh University for the next leg of his education. According to Rogers, it took him a long time to complete his Ph.D., teaching the whole way through. He says, including all the graduate fellowships he was teaching while a student, he taught for a total of 21 years.

At the end, by his own admission, he was more than ready to move on to something different.

While waiting to discover his new direction, he used his extensive teaching experience to land some of the better adjunct teaching jobs until a Bethlehem Area Public Library posted a job. Rogers started working in the reference department and helped with historical research.

“It wasn’t great; it was part time,” he said. “There also was no administrative part to this job. It was fun, and it led me to find out that I really like working in libraries, but I needed to keep moving forward.”

Rogers said he was really glad when the Catasauqua director position opened up.

“This was a great opportunity; it seemed like here was a way to start a self-supporting career in the library field,” he said. “And it’s such a small, kind of cool place that wasn’t going to stress me out necessarily while I’m doing it. I’m not someone who needs to live in a large city or be on the go all the time.”

Regarding what he would like to see in the library’s future, Rogers feels he has stepped into a great place that really doesn’t need any immediate fixing.

“Right now, everything is good. Let’s make sure I can keep it that way before I start tinkering,” he laughed.

His biggest challenge will be mastering the director’s job, a position that requires the wearing of many different hats, without receiving any formal training.

Morris said she will be donating her wisdom as much as possible before she leaves, and the rest of the staff will help as much as they can.

On a more personal note, Rogers likes to collect records in his spare time. He said he studied Zydeco music in Louisiana.

He has family scattered throughout the area, including parents who still live in Coffeetown, a sister and brother with their respective families and a 4-year-old son in Bethlehem.

“It has been quite a journey, just trying to do things I like rather than get stuck doing things I don’t like,” Rogers said. “That’s always been the struggle. I think I’ve been very lucky that things have happened at the right time. It’s been a slow trip, but still I’m happy with things.”

He said it’s a great time for him to end up at the library — “just before the big yard sale, where I got to meet so much of the community, and then the centennial celebration in October, where I get to take part in the 100th anniversary of a library that’s been in this building for almost that whole time, which is remarkable,” he said.