Veronica Laroche, the new director of Coplay Public Library, didn’t always know she wanted to be a librarian.

Laroche first received a degree in music recording from Lebanon Valley College, Annville, in 2005, then received her teaching certification from Moravian College, Bethlehem. She began her education career at Good Shepherd Catholic School, Northampton, where she taught music for two years, eventually teaching library skills as well.

After deciding careers in music and teaching were not her passions, she decided being a librarian was her true calling.

“When I was teaching library skills, being in the library for two days a week, that was the best time. And I thought, why didn’t I think of this sooner?” she said.

Laroche eventually got a job as a library assistant at Coplay Public Library. This past November, she was promoted to director and is currently working on her master’s degree in library science.

When asked the title of her favorite book, Laroche had a difficult time choosing.

“If I had to name one, as a cancer survivor, I’d probably say John Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’” she said.

The book was given to Laroche by her best friend while Laroche was fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

One of Laroche’s main priorities as director is to bring more special programs to the library.

This past year, Laroche planned a space-themed summer program for the children, where they got to stuff their own aliens. Da Vinci Science Center staff visited the library and helped the program attendees launch stomp rockets.

“We did an anniversary party for the moon landing, and kids learned how to moonwalk. I’m a very poor moonwalker, but I did my best to teach them, and there was a really excellent YouTube video,” she said.

Children were not the only ones invited to have fun last summer. The library held a wine glass painting event in June, and in August, patrons were invited to do a re-creation of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”

“We did it completely free of charge because we had enough sponsorship for the summer program that we were able to offer a bunch of really cool things for both the kids and the adults,” Laroche said.

Though most of the special programs occur during the summer, Laroche would like to add more throughout the year.

“I would like to see, at least once a season, something special that would get people in here,” she said.

One of Laroche’s biggest challenges is letting residents know the borough has its own library. She and her staff are trying to get brochures and registration cards to real estate brokers so they can be added to welcome packages given to new residents.

Another of Laroche’s goals is figuring out what the community wants and needs.

“I love picking people’s brains when they come in. So what are you reading? What are you interested in? What can the library do for you?” she said. “And the nice thing about being in a smaller community is that you can really get to know people well. It’s much easier to cater to them when you know what they’re looking for.”

Most visitors are those around retirement age as well as families with younger children.

One of her favorite duties as librarian is running children’s storytime, where her audience consists mostly of toddlers.

“The nice thing about that age group is when things click, you can really see that,” she said.

One of her favorite children’s authors is Mo Willems.

“He’s wonderful. The ‘Pigeons’ books are hilarious. ‘Elephant and Piggie’ are hilarious,” she said.

She also recommends Jane Yolend, author of the “How Do Dinosaurs...” series.

Adults, especially senior citizens, frequent the library to borrow reading materials and DVDs.

“The people of this community love mystery novels and suspense novels and thrillers. That’s probably the most popular genre for this community,” she said. “James Patterson has a super-huge draw. There are people who will come in and read anything that has his name on it.”

The rising popularity of celebrity book clubs is also attracting new visitors to the library.

“‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ came out in 2018, or possibly before then, but as soon as Reese Witherspoon put that on her book club, everybody was in for it,” she said. “The celebrity book club thing has gotten a lot of people to read different things.”

Laroche and her staff make it a goal to create a warm, welcoming environment for patrons.

“We try to keep things pretty casual because we want people to come in. We want people to feel like they can be here for a while,” she said.

Laroche just submitted a grant through the Harry C. Trexler Trust to get more furniture - mainly study tables - for the library.

Every October and April, the library holds large book sales, the biggest fundraising events for the library. The sale held this past October was the most successful event in years.

Local businesses also support the library by donating items for the basket raffle. Restaurants also hold fundraisers for the library.

Laroche recognizes libraries play a different role than they once did.

“Libraries, in general, are changing to be more like a community center, a place for people to gather and share ideas, for people to comfortably share ideas without facing judgment for whatever they might say or for whatever they might enjoy,” she said.

Laroche is proud of the library’s role in the community. She wants it to be a welcoming place for all of the borough’s residents.

“This library has just the most dedicated staff, and I feel like everybody tries to be so friendly. Even when we have bad days, we do our best,” she said.

What Laroche wants most for the library in the future is more visitors.

“I want more people to come in,” she said. “More people need to know that we’re here and that we’re approachable and that we want to do our best to help you with whatever we can.”