By Lauren Brown
Burns Times-Herald

One of Cheryl Hancock’s dreams was to be the director of a small, rural library.

“This fit the bill nicely,” she said of the Harney County Library.

Hancock recently took on the director role as Jolyn Wynn left to be closer to family in Wyoming. After a few weeks in the position, Hancock said she feels as though she has been warmly welcomed to the community.

Hailing from Prineville, Hancock had been with the Crook County Library for 18 years. She worked her way up from shelving books part-time to being a full-time reference librarian.

Hancock grew up on the west side of the state, but has a soft spot in her heart for Southeastern Oregon as this is where she met her husband. They were both getting summer college credit at the Malheur Field Station when they met for the first time.

In fact, they both liked the High Desert so much, they eventually found themselves in Prineville, where they both found jobs — Hancock at the library and her husband with the Forest Service.

The couple still has their house in Prineville, where they raised their four children, and Hancock has been commuting to Harney County during the week and driving to Prineville on the weekends. One of her passions is gardening, so she returns home not only to see her family, but to tend to her garden.

However, she said that they will be buying some property in Harney County soon.

One of Hancock’s first priorities at the Harney County Library is to de-crowd the shelves.

The staff will be working on moving some of the worn out, older books off the shelves to sell in a book sale to be held within the next few months.

Hancock said she will also continue to offer educational programs for community members.

She would like to thank the community for making her feel at home here in Harney County. “There are a lot of people out there who really support the library,” she said with a smile. “That’ll make my job easier.”