Director & CEO
St. Louis County Library
Kristen Sorth became St. Louis County Library’s first female Director and CEO on November 19, 2013. Ms. Sorth has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Missouri–Columbia and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She has worked for the library since 1998. Before her appointment as Director, Ms. Sorth served as Assistant Director of Administration.
She is the 2019 winner of ALA’s Ernest A. DiMattia Award for Innovation and Service to Community and Profession. Ms. Sorth was selected as a member of the YWCA Academy of Leaders. The St. Louis Business Journal named Kristen Sorth one of the Most Influential Business Women. She was selected as one of the UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies 50 Distinguished Alumni. In 2023, Ms. Sorth was selected as a Titan 100 for St. Louis.
Sorth has focused on building community partnerships to provide innovative programming and increased community involvement. This effort has resulted in several successful and award-winning partnerships with local organizations.
The Library has received many accolades under Sorth’s leadership. In 2022, the Library received the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries, the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The Missouri Library Association named SLCL the 2022 and 2014 Missouri Library of the Year. SLCL has been named a Top Place to Work by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 8 years. Other local awards include What’s Right with the Region, a Changemakers Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals St. Louis Regional Chapter in 2020 and an Outstanding Local Government Achievement award from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments in 2017 and 2021.
Ms. Sorth volunteers for several organizations, including FOCUS St. Louis and the YWCA. Ms. Sorth is a member of the Regional Response Team Steering Committee.
Sunday, January 29, 2023
1:30 PM – 2:45 PM