After spending less than a year in banking in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y., Saul Amdursky realized he was better suited to work in a library. Since graduating with a master of library science from the University of Kentucky with his wife, Marion, who also was a librarian, he has worked at many public libraries, mainly in the Midwest. Amdursky spent 17 years as director of the Kalamazoo Public Library in Michigan, which in 2002 was named Library Journal’s “Library of the Year.” Since 2004, Amdursky, 61, has been CEO of the Fraser Valley Regional Library based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Now he will begin a new chapter as director of the Des Moines Public Library.

What do you like about working in a library?

One of the great things about working the public service desk in the library is you’re one of the few government employees people sort of like. You helped people get what they needed and they appreciated what you did. As a library administrator, I think a lot of the fun is trying to envision what you can be. We don’t talk about it nearly enough, but libraries have a real potential to make an economic impact in the community. There’s a spinoff economic impact, but it’s also part of the knowledge infrastructure, and one of the major concerns in this country is literacy. Then the simplest one is if you know how to use your library, you will save yourself a fair amount of money. My goal is we’ve got 200,000 people in the community and the only thing everybody’s got in common is we all have 24 hours in the day. Therefore, the question is how can I convince individuals in this community that the library is worthy of part of their day. Part of that will be our traditional delivery of books, part of it will be audio/video and part of it is going to be digital delivery.

Do you see a lot of opportunities with this library, especially as it nears the end of its capital campaign?

What becomes obvious when a community decides to put several millions of dollars into their building program, they’re not doing it because they think it would be nice. They’re doing it because they think there’s a reason to do it. When you have that level of support, you’re saying how do we make [this investment] pay at the greatest level possible.

What are you going to miss most about Canada?

The people I work with. It’s not that [relationships] won’t be built here, but you always miss that. The physical element that I will miss is hard to describe, but what it really boils down to is that I can sit in my living room and look at the mountains.

What is the best book you’ve read lately?

Bill Bryson’s “[Life and Times of the] Thunderbolt Kid.” One I reread probably every couple of years is “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” That one is a very good management book. My favorite is probably Steinbeck’s “East of Eden.”

What’s your greatest achievement?

At Kalamazoo, the single best thing that happened is we went from a school district public library to being an independently funded district library, which meant we had an elected board solely for the library and we had independent funding.

What’s the biggest difference between here and Canada?

In Canada I control none of the buildings. In essence I have 15 communities. Each community builds its own buildings and is responsible for maintenance and furnishings. We supply the staff and the technology. One of the issues is that some communities really don’t care very much. As an example, a community of about 75,000 people has 14,000 square feet for library services and they put it in the nastiest part of town. On the other hand, we have another community of 52,000 and they devote 45,000 square feet. When you’re trying to serve all 15 communities, it’s interesting, but it’s hard to do what I really believe I can do here. Economically, it’s absolutely brilliant, because you’ve consolidated for 15 communities.

What do you like to do outside work?

I’m a really lousy golfer, but it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it. Mark Twain said, “Golf is a good walk spoiled,” but I disagree. I enjoy the walk and I don’t mind looking for my ball. I don’t know if I’ll do it here, but in the past I’ve really enjoyed doing theater.