Jacob Widrick, the new director of the Saranac Lake Free Library, is seen here in the library on Monday, his first day of work. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

SARANAC LAKE — Patrons of the Saranac Lake Free Library apparently have a dog to thank for the library’s new director, Jacob Widrick.

Originally from Colton, Widrick was previously the director at the Marcellus Free Library, outside of Syracuse, for five-and-a-half years. He said he was happy there and wasn’t looking to leave, but he’d adopted a dog a few years before and they started spending their weekends hiking in the Adirondacks. Widrick and his dog, Lilith, fell in love with the area. Now, they’re both 46ers.

“This is someplace I think I could stay for a really long time,” Widrick said.

Widrick, 37, started work as the SLFL’s new director on Monday after former Director Peter Benson’s 10-year tenure came to an end on Sunday.

Widrick received a bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College. He lived and worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for “a good chunk of his 20s,” returning to the University of Albany for a master’s degree in Library Science in his late 20s. Widrick hadn’t planned on a future in libraries, but he said it was always in the back of his mind — his mom is a librarian, too, and he’d always considered library work as a possible career choice.

Widrick said that Marcellus was a similar library to SLFL in terms of library size, patronage population and budget. Before working at Marcellus, Widrick was the director of the D. R. Evarts Library in Athens, New York.

Widrick spent a lot of his first day on Monday asking questions, figuring out the different roles library staff play and meeting regular library patrons. Even though he’s still learning, Widrick said he’s thinking of ways the library can interact with the “vibrant community” of Saranac Lake.

He said there are a lot of people here with different talents and interests, and he wants to get to know the community better to connect those strengths. He said that’s going to be key in assessing any needs in the community that the library could potentially help out with.

“I think that’s one of the things that libraries are very good at — bridging the gap between what services may be missing in the community,” he said.

And if you’re looking for a good book, Widrick hailed fiction writer Neil Gaiman’s inventory of works as a favorite. Widrick used to love George R.R. Martin, who penned the “Game of Thrones” fiction series, but Widrick said he’s built up a grudge against the author because he still hasn’t finished writing the series.