Our director joined the library in April of 2016.

She obtained her bachelor's degree from Buena Vista University in Social Work and History and her master's degree from the University of Northern Iowa in Social Work Administration.

Ms. Brewer was previously an Executive Director for fourteen years in the human service field and brings with her a wide variety of leadership and administrative experience.  As a library director, her goals are to ensure that the Harlan Community Library provides superior customer services and that the library continues to evolve with the needs of the community and its patrons. 

In her free time, Ms. Brewer enjoys spending time with family and friends, working with plants, sewing, crafting, and reading.  Her favorite genre's include historical fiction, mystery and psychological thrillers.  

Emily Kurth-Christensen, Youth Services Librarian

Emily joined our library in 2016.  Her educational background includes a B.A. in Communication and German from Dana College and a Public Library Director Certificate from the State Library of Iowa.

Emily manages the library's youth collections and is responsible for all of the great programs we have available for our younger patrons. She also provides outreach programs to local preschools.  Emily enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her family.

Emily is married to Michael Christensen and is a mother of a two. She is known to be a little animal crazy and has had many different pets, including a one-eyed toad. Currently she has two cats, two dogs and a bearded dragon.

Miss Emily states, “Children’s books have always been an important part of my life. I collect picture books and enjoy reading them as much now, as I did when I was young. I absolutely love my job! Working with kids of all ages is tremendously rewarding. My library goals for the future are to continue to grow our youth collection, develop and implement new programming, find creative ways to serve our community, and always encourage a love of reading with everyone who comes my way.”

Dena Jacobsen, Circulation Clerk

Dena joined us as our our Youth Services Clerk in May 2019 and then transitioned to our head circulation clerk in 2021.  She has worked the last 21 years for the Avoca Journal Herald where she manages their bookkeeping, and also writes a weekly article for her book club.  Dena has a passion for books, her book club groups, writing, and volunteering.  She lives in Avoca, but is originally from Omaha, NE and is married to Troy Jacobsen, a Harlan native. They have two children, who are both attending Iowa State College, and one dog named Louise.  Now that she has her children out of the home, she would like to return to school for a literature degree or a library science degree. Dena believes there is a book for everyone; so please ask her for recommendations. She has a love for many genres and loves to chat about all the books.

Elizabeth Schechinger, Collection Librarian

Elizabeth Schechinger joined us at the end of October 2019. She grew up in Harlan and received her bachelor degree in English with a Professional Writing minor from the University of Northern Iowa. Her favorite genre to read is fantasy, but for the past couple of years she has been trying to branch out and try others. The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas are two of her favorite series so far.  Elizabeth enjoys volunteering in the community. She comes from two big families in the Shelby County area.  We are excited to have her join our Harlan Community Library team!

Linda Burger, Library Technician

Linda was born and raised in rural Harlan, Iowa and graduated from Harlan Community High School. She completed higher education for a medical office assistant and is a certified medication manager. Linda is happily married and has 3 sons, 9 grandchildren and 2 great grandsons. Linda has been employed with the city for 35 years and has enjoyed 25 of those years at the library. Linda also works at Concerned Inc. and has been serving people with varying disabilities since 2011.  Part of Linda's many responsibilties at the library is helping others complete research in our archives.  She enjoys geneology and learning about history.  

Ryan Schueman, Custodian

Ryan grew up in Avoca and currently is a resident of Harlan. Some of Ryan's favorite things are going out to eat with friends, watching television and movies, and bowling at Cyclone Lanes. He also enjoys singing while he cleans the library which makes everyone around him smile. Ryan loves reading picture books with friends, the funnier the better. Ryan joined the library in July of 2022, as our custodian, and he truly loves making the library look great for all our patrons.

Noa Finken, Adult Services Librarian

Noa joined our team in November of 2024. She's a Harlan native who earned her B.S. degree in Marketing at Iowa State University. In addition to marketing, Noa is also passionate about graphic design and cats. Her favorite genre to read is self-improvement. Here at the library, she hosts many great programs for adults, including Classic Movie Mornings, Craft Nights, Creative Writing Group, and more.

Kristi Peters, Youth Services Clerk

Kristi joined the library staff in the summer of 2023 after a 30+ year career in research and college education.  Originally a farm girl from Harlan she graduated from HCHS (1987), the University of Northern Iowa (B.S.) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Ph.D.).  She went on to do research in cancer biology and virology at the Cleveland Clinic and Penn State Hershey.

For the last ten years Kristi has continued her research while teaching chemistry, biochemistry, virology and environmental chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and Grinnell College.  She was the faculty advisor for a student organization that brought interactive science experiences to K-8 students, scouts and the nursing homes.  

Kristi is a self-subscribed library junkie.  She reads a large variety of genres and takes the time to revisit her favorite books each year.  It is not always reread as she loves to have audiobooks on while she drives.  Her favorites include “The Westing Game”, the Artemis Fowl series and the Lockwood and Co. series in young adult fiction.  In the Sci-Fi category are two science fact books “Saturn Run” and “Artemis”.   Her favorite mystery authors include Baldacci, Sandford, Penny, Hillerman and Francis.  A romance novel may also sneak its way onto the pile between chemistry and biology research journals.

“I love science and asking questions.  I want every student to share in the excitement of figuring out the answers.”

Sarah North, Circulation Clerk

Sarah was born and raised in Harlan and joined the library team in March of 2025. She was homeschooled under Christian Liberty Academy. Her mother instilled a joy of reading in her and her siblings from an early age by reading to them, Sarah, then spent hours and hours reading to others. Sarah is a watercolor artist, needlecrafter, and gardener. She loves music, nature, animals, cooking, and learning about other cultures. She enjoys educational & religious non-fiction books and she loves children’s books the most.