Terri Garner has just found the right fit.

The former St. Marys resident was recently appointed as director
of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, a position that
combines her years of upper-level business experience and her love
of history and political science.

“It truly is the perfect job,” she said.

She began her new position Nov. 5, and is having a good time so
far, she said.

Garner had a fascination with the worlds of history and
political science since she was young. Her father, Paul Garner of
St. Marys, was involved in politics and had taken the family on
trips to Washington D.C., Harrisburg and Gettysburg.

“I just really fell in love with it,” she said.

A visit to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Estate in
Charlottesville, Va. when she was 8 solidified her passion for
history. She went on to get a B.A. in political science from
Chatham College in Pittsburgh and an M.A. in history from the
University of Colorado, Denver.

But professions in her chosen fields didn’t pay much in the
1970s, she said. So she decided to work in the business world to
make money and return to history and political science later in
life.

Garner was previously the executive director of the Bangor
Museum and Center for History in Bangor, Maine, beginning in 2005.
There she worked closely with civic and government leaders in Maine
to develop local community economic enhancements. She created a new
vision for the museum and managed a ,3 million capital campaign to
support the vision and the redesign of the museum.

Before that, Garner served as vice president for service and
marketing at Intellisource in Denver, Colo., from 2004 to 2005. She
was responsible for market research and plan development and
implementation with a special emphasis on education and corporate
partnerships.

She was also director of the Americas Command Center at Sun
Microsystems for two years. As part of her duties, Garner was
responsible for customer and employee recovery in New York
following the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Prior to working Sun Microsystems, Garner worked with Xerox
Corporation for 13 years, serving as general manager of Xerox
Business Services for the Rocky Mountain Operation and the New
Jersey Operation. She was responsible for driving revenue and
profit growth from new and existing clients, directing staff
priorities in administration, sales, marketing, and service
departments, and client satisfaction.

“Ms. Garner brings sound management experience and a fresh
perspective to the Clinton library,” said Allen Weinstein,
Archivist of the United States, in a press release. “Her leadership
roles in the private sector at Xerox and Sun Microsystems and in
the non-profit world at the Bangor Museum and Center for History
will provide a strong foundation for continuing the important work
at the Clinton library. We look forward to welcoming her in to the
National Archives system and to working with her on exciting plans
for the future.”

Former President Bill Clinton said in a press release that he
was pleased Garner was appointed to the position.

“When we built this library, we wanted to create a unique place
where people could come and learn about America at the turn of the
21st Century and where they would fell engaged in that experience,”
he said. “Terri, with her unique blend of private sector and
non-profit experience, is a great fit to guide the library in the
coming years.”

The presidential library is a great place to utilize all of her
skills as libraries must work more like a business than they had to
in the past to survive, Garner said. Over 1 million people have
visited the library since it opened in 2004.

Her experience at Sun Microsystems will help the presidential
library upgrade its technology. Garner plans make sure the library
remains fresh and new for its visitors and to expand its
educational programming. She will also work with the library’s
foundation to make sure there is sufficient funding to keep the
library going.

Garner wants to make sure the library maintains a good economic
partner with Little Rock, she said. The library has been a great
addition to the area and she hopes the partnership continues to
develop, she said.

Another priority is to improve internal procedures that allow
documents to be opened faster and more efficiently, she said.
Presidential candidate and former First Lady Hillary Clinton has
come under heat recently over the slow pace of processing records
from her time in the White House, the Associated Press reported.
Garner said the situation is unique as documents on First Ladies
are not usually requested.

“It makes us have to re-look at how we do things and reinvent
how we do it,” she said.