About Us

The first public library in the Florida Keys opened in Key West in 1853. Today, Monroe County Public Library serves more than 35,000 adults and youth, via five locations, from Key Largo to Key West. We strive to meet the changing access and literacy needs of residents and visitors alike, without discrimination of any kind. Our policies are informed by Monroe County Library Policy, the American Library Association’s Code of Ethics/Library Bill of Rights, and feedback from our patrons. We hope you’ll feel free to contact us. We are grateful for the support of our friends groups throughout the Florida Keys.

Leadership

305.292.4540
matthews-kimberly@monroecounty-fl.gov

Kimberly Matthews is Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Libraries for Monroe County, the Florida Keys. Before her current position, Kimberly was Assistant Director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. At MDPLS she directed all Public Service operations, Technical Services, Human Resources, Marketing, Strategy and the Programming and Partnerships teams. During her tenure, the system opened 3 new branches and renovated 7 locations, doubled attendance at Children’s story times system-wide and introduced a variety of new technologies and services. 

Prior to MDPLS, Kimberly served as the Executive Director of the Trenton (NJ) Free Public Library, where she successfully led the organization through two devastating budget reductions by reengineering all internal processes for increased fiscal responsibility, created new operational policies, and implemented a new service model for the provision of innovative services. Before her many years in NJ, Kimberly spent nearly a decade on the executive management team of the award-winning Salt Lake City Public Library. 

She has served on various boards including the nation-wide library cooperative LYRASIS and the Central NJ Regional Library Cooperative. Kimberly holds master’s degrees in both Library Science and Business Administration. In addition to her work in public libraries, her library career has included work for NASA, KPMG, the Smithsonian, and Washington State University.

With extensive expertise in the area of strategic planning, Kimberly co-authored the book, Crash Course in Strategic Planning, published in 2013 by ABC-CLIO. In addition, she consults and speaks on library innovation, strategic planning, organizational change and leadership. Most notable were her keynote speaking engagements at the “Danish Union of Librarians 2014 Annual Conference” in Copenhagen and the “Knowledge Forum” in Bangkok in 2016 by invitation of Thai Minister of Education.

Kimberly lives on a small island with her dog Maggie and travels extensively whenever her work allows time.