The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) welcomes Martin House as the library manager of Sugar Creek Branch library. House comes to Sugar Creek after serving as the manager of Information Services at Main Library for four years. Jonita Edmonds served as the library manager of Sugar Creek for 5 1/2 yeas and has moved to Main Library as the new Information Services Manager. Both began their duties April 6.

House has been at PLCMC since 1997. He began his career with the library as a Senior Library Assistant in Telephone Reference at Main Library. He received his Masters of Library Science from UNC-Greensboro in 1998 and shortly before graduation was offered a position as Reference Librarian in the Reference Department at Main Library. In 2005 he was promoted to Information Services Manager at Main where he managed the Reference Department.

A native of Germany and long-time resident of that country, House came to the United States at age nineteen. He loves to sing and has been known to break into song, sharing an operatic verse or two if asked. His love of music helped him meet his wife, Erinn who is a professional musician in the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. House and his wife both reside in Charlotte.

The movements of House and Edmonds are part of an organizational restructuring effort called “Imagine 2010,” designed to realign the library with the needs of the community. The library has been working on this since 2006, but more recently, budget concerns and a hiring freeze have caused the library to look internally to fill roles created in the new structure.

David Singleton, Director of Library Experiences said, “These staff members are highly qualified individuals who have performed very well in their previous locations. They will bring their strengths and leadership abilities to their new locations and will have the opportunity to have significant impact working with a variety of staff and customers.”

Martin House Photo available on Flickr:



Since its founding in 1903 as a Carnegie Free Library, PLCMC has provided community service and outreach to the citizens of the Charlotte area. One of the premier libraries in the country, PLCMC has been recognized as a “Five Star” library in a national index of public library service from Library Journal and was named winner of the 2006 National Award for Library Service. The library sponsors a variety of community-based programs, from computer and Internet workshops to the award-winning Novello Festival of Reading, a celebration of the joys of reading and learning. With 24 locations, 1.4 million volumes, 79,000 DVDs, CDs and audiobooks, and a vast selection of titles available to download from the library’s web site, PLCMC is dedicated to its mission of expanding minds, empowering individuals and enriching the community.