Lakewood Branch Library manager Lynn Lewis is ready to move on from her past heading up the Skillman Southwestern Branch.
Photography by Amani Sodiq
Lewis, an East Dallas neighbor, worked at Skillman Southwestern from March 2016 to when it closed in late September. Thanks to community advocacy, that branch was saved from closure last year, but despite similar efforts this year, the Dallas City Council decided not to fund it in the 2025-26 budget. After Skillman Southwestern closed, Lewis was transferred to our Lakewood Branch Library. The former Lakewood branch manager went to the Bachman Lake Branch Library.
“It was just hard because there was all this stuff last year, and then it just kept going, and I was kind of glad that it’s over now,” Lewis says about her former branch closing. “Now, I feel like we can kind of concentrate on Lakewood, and then also the Skillman patrons are going to become Lakewood patrons, hopefully, a lot of them, or they’ll go to Vickery. They’ll spread out.”
What happened with Skillman Southwestern could be seen as a reminder for neighbors to join their local friends groups (people who raise money to support libraries) and use services more often.
“Come to the library, come to programs, all that sort of stuff, and not just worry about your library during the budget time but all the time,” Lewis says.
Lewis brings a confident energy to her role in Lakewood, saying she’s the “same Lynn, different building.” She has spent most of her career as a librarian, starting in her home state of Kansas via the Lawrence Public Library system and the University of Kansas Spahr Engineering Library. When she and her family moved to Texas in 2013, she became a librarian at the Hurst Public Library.
“It was hotter than heck, too,” Lewis says about her August move down south. “I was like, ‘What have we done?’ I did not quite realize how hot it was until you have a moving truck.”
But she’s come to like Texas and appreciates that she made that decision.
“I wanted to go somewhere else,” Lewis says. “I know a lot of people grow up in the same place their whole life, but to me, I feel like this is a good thing I did for the kids and for myself.”
Lewis interviewed for her job at the Hurst Public Library over the phone, including one where she was literally in the dark.
“My boss in Lawrence knew I was interviewing because I was moving,” she says. “Well, I was in my office doing the interview with the boss I had in Hurst, and the power went out, so everyone is leaving the building, and I’m still in there trying to talk to her. She’s asking me all these questions about books. I’m sitting in the dark, but I still got the job.”
Looking for advancement opportunities, Lewis eventually got hired by the Dallas Public Library.
Lewis says she’s aspired to be a librarian since she was 10 years old. She remembers growing up in her local library, talking to librarians and watching them help people. The latter is something she wanted to do, but she knew she wouldn’t go the traditional route of being in the medical field. After getting her journalism degree and working at a TV station, she thought of her work there as helping people but was still drawn to libraries.
“When I first got my first library job, I was just like a gopher in the magazine section,” Lewis says. “People would fill up this little form. They would say, ‘I want this Newsweek for this date,’ and I would run, get it and bring it to them, and they would make copies. This is like in the ’90s.”
After that, Lewis enrolled at Emporia State for her master’s degree and graduated in 2003.
These days, libraries are community gathering spaces with programming for children, teenagers and adults. There’s also resources that can be accessed outside of the physical library through the Libby app, like e-books and homework help.
“At any branch library in Dallas, I think the main idea is to get people in the building to see what else libraries can do besides just checking out a book or newspaper,” she says.
As branch manager in Lakewood, Lewis’ overall job is to ensure everything is running smoothly. At this point, specifically, building strong working relationships with the Lakewood Library Friends, the Dallas Municipal Library Board and patrons is paramount. So far, Lewis says the Lakewood community has been welcoming.
“Here, I’m still getting to know people, but I get to a point where I’ll know them by their first name because it’s their neighborhood branch, and they’re going to be used to seeing us all, including me,” she says. “Even if I have a negative interaction, I think that I can handle it in a very firm but yet friendly way, without getting it into any kind of big argument or whatever.”
Lakewood Library Friends President Mary Kay Henley has her own ideas of what the branch’s needs are, but she’s careful to not overshadow Lewis’ vision.
“I hope that what we do is support what she wants,” Henley says.
Dallas is moving toward a regional library model by having full-service libraries open seven days a week in key areas. However, a handful of branch libraries are expected to close because of this. Henley has not heard anything about the possibility of the Lakewood Branch closing, but she says she fears for all libraries.
“I think it is absolutely appalling that in the city this rich, this size, this educated, doesn’t care more about spending more for their libraries,” Henley says.
In general, Lewis wants to move the Lakewood Branch Library forward so that it responds to local needs and is a “well-run machine.”
“We definitely want community feedback, too,” she says. “I think a lot of times people think they can’t tell us what they need, but they can.”
