New Ideas, New Energy
Award-winning library gets new director
For those who think “books,” when they think about the Billings Public Library, think again. Sure, the city’s library still offers thousands of titles — both actual books as well as digital and audio versions. But the brand-new library director, Kelsie Rubich, blasts the long-held stereotype that libraries are merely book depositories.
She also blasts the stereotype of the “shushing” librarian. Instead, picture the tall, vibrant 41-year-old as a one-time wannabe firefighter and a competitive weightlifter. No doubt her bold spirit shapes her approach at the library, where she’s got a mission in mind: to keep the library ever-adapting and relevant to the needs of the Billings community.
“One thing about libraries,” she says, “is they’re really great about evolving. My vision is to honor the history of this library’s 124-year legacy, but I do want to push the boundaries from what we’ve done in the past.”
Currently, one in three Yellowstone County residents has a library card. She’d like to double that number. As she strives toward that goal, she welcomes new ideas just as she nurtures ideas that have already proven popular.
Kelsie sees the library as a civic center, a hub that offers not only information but spaces for patrons to meet and a source of innovative programs for everyone.
“I’d really love to have people come to the library and figure out what they connect with,” she says. “There really is something for everyone — and that’s by design.”
New ideas and strategic planning come naturally to Kelsie, who considers herself a life-long learner.
“I’m curious. I prioritize personal growth. I’m not afraid of taking on challenges,” she says.
Officially named library director last November, she earned that title by way of 25 years of library experience, starting as a high school student shelving books at the community college in Yakima, Washington.
“I was a library user as a kid,” she says. “I was really excited to have that first job.”
In college, she earned a bachelor’s degree, with a specialization in library studies and information systems, and later added a master’s degree in information science — all the while working in the schools’ libraries.
After graduating, she spent years in various positions, from leading story times to teen programming to general reference, at several branches of the Timberland Regional Library system, a 27-branch system in the South Puget Sound. While in the Tacoma area, she met Colin Rubich, a native Montanan who was stationed there as a Judge Advocate in the Army. By 2014 the couple had moved to Billings, where he became a federal prosecutor and she landed a job at the brand-new Billings Public Library.
“There just happened to be an opening when I moved here,” she says. “The new library opened six months before I started.”
It was also about that time that the library nearly lost Kelsie.
“Shortly after I moved here, I was thinking, is this what I want to do forever?” she says.
The self-described “adrenaline junkie” had long dreamt of being a firefighter. She trained, passed the tests, took an EMT course and volunteered at the Lockwood Fire Department.
But the reality of being a firefighter — mostly medical calls — didn’t appeal to her.
“That vision in my head didn’t align with reality,” she says.
It was also about that time that she became pregnant with her first son, Carter, now eight. Two years later, she gave birth to Liam.
“I’m glad it worked out how it did,” she says. “That wasn’t the job for me.”
Today she fuels her need for a challenge through her professional role. “Here, every day is always different,” she says. “I never know what I’ll learn or what I’ll be asked to make a decision about.”
On her rise to the apex in Billings, she dedicated years in various library departments, from senior outreach librarian to information systems coordinator, and finally, in 2022, to assistant director.
“I think it affords me a unique perspective — to look back,” she says. “I know the value of the work we do.”
Nowadays she finds fulfillment by supporting and mentoring her staff. She is quick to credit them for making the library not only function, but function with heart.
“The connections we make with our patrons, that human element, that really resonates with me personally,” she says. “And seeing them (staff) thrive and advance into positions, I love that part of my job.”
As Kelsie moved into administrative positions, she came to realize she had a knack for taking the long view.
“I discovered I loved the administrative side of things and shaping the future,” she says. “That’s when I started thinking bigger, thinking both creatively and strategically.”
“Thinking bigger” paved the way for several projects that Kelsie spearheaded — projects, she stresses, that wouldn’t have been accomplished without partnerships from local businesses as well as support from the friends of the library and the library foundation.
“You can have a vision, but you need a team to realize it,” she says.
One such brainchild is the Library Express Locker Project, which offers patrons 24/7 access to materials they have ordered online. The concept was born from the Covid era, when patrons drove up to the curb for book pick-ups.
“We wondered, how could we extend that service without putting a burden on staff?” she recalls.
The project started with one set of lockers just outside the library. Since then, and in partnership with Intermountain Health and the Children’s Clinic, the library has added lockers in three other locations: outside the clinic off Wicks Lane, at the walk-in clinic in Lockwood and at the children’s clinic off Zimmerman.
“It was really this innovative idea for us — something no other library in Montana had (nor has) attempted,” she says. “They really exploded. Many days the lockers are full.”
In fact, it was the locker project that earned the Billings Public Library recognition as Montana’s Library of the Year for 2025.
“For us, that’s a huge honor,” Kelsie says, crediting library staff for making it happen. “It just speaks in recognition of our organization that’s willing to take these innovative risks.”
Another game-changer is the library’s maker space, the CO+LAB, which just celebrated its first year. Its name, she explains, combines the words “collaboration” and “laboratory.”
“Our vision for the space is to create opportunities for people of all ages to explore, learn, and create together,” she says.
The goal was to make 3-D printing, sound production and laser printing accessible to everyone. The library even provides a “mini-maker” program for kids and allows patrons to check out and take home 3-D printers, sewing machines and podcasting kits.
While she looks to the future, Kelsie also relates to the past. She is the first woman library director in the last 35 years, but she follows a long history of women library directors/head librarians, tracing back to 1901 when Mabel Collins was hired as the library’s first head librarian. Despite the chasm of 124 years, Kelsie sees parallels between today’s library and Billings’ first library.
“Back in the early 1900s, it was already being used for more than access to books,” Kelsie says. “They used the library for programs and meetings, which led to two expansions in its first 20 years.”
Today, the library offers more than 100 different programs each month and counted more than 3,000 reservations for meeting spaces in the past year.
Now as director, Kelsie contemplates expanding library access through smaller branch locations.
“It’s unusual for an area this size (encompassing 2,600 square miles and counting 170,000 residents) to be served by one single branch,” she says.
She knows it’s a stretch and she’s well aware of her challenges — a growing demand for services on a flat budget — but she’s eager to take them on.
“I kind of lean into those challenges,” she says, smiling. “I’m hopeful that it’s not a ‘forever challenge.’ I consider myself to be a tenacious and persistent person. I don’t give up easily.
