‘It’s Been a Wonderful Place To Work’: Jeff Zaino Retiring After 37 Years at New Canaan Library

When Jeff Zaino started as a serials clerk at New Canaan Library in January of 1983, visitors found books by using a card catalogue. 

There was no such thing as the World Wide Web, and Center School—New Canaan’s original elementary school, now an underused parking lot—stood across Maple Street in its final months of occupancy. Now the head of infrastructure at the library—through the years he’s worked as head of circulation, when that involved stamping and signing out books, reference librarian, go-to computer guy and head of digital services, and also helped with collections, selecting religion, philosophy and foreign language books—Zaino will go to work Wednesday for the last time. 

“There’s a lot of excitement and a little bit of anxiety because it’s a new lifestyle,” Zaino said of his retirement. “But certainly I would put it at 90% exhilaration and 10% anxiety.”

His final day bookends a career that has bridged the digital age at New Canaan’s community hub, and marks a farewell to one of the town’s most familiar faces. Zaino is described by longtime colleagues and patrons as a smart, funny, dedicated and adaptable professional whose significant behind-the-scenes work has helped the library staff excel. “He’s super-interesting as a human being,” said Lisa Oldham, the library’s executive director.

New Canaan Library, Bookstore See High Demand for Controversial ‘Fire & Fury’ Book on Trump

Officials at New Canaan Library and the bookstore in town say they’re seeing high demand among locals for “Fire & Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” a new book at the center of a political firestorm involving the president and his circle. The library had ordered one copy of the nonfiction work before it had any buzz—even though the book wasn’t reviewed anywhere or expected to do very well—and that copy is expected to come this week, according to Lauren Phillips, head of collections. There already are 29 holds on that print book—Phillips said she since has ordered three more copies, and hopes to have them soon—and 21 holds on an e-book version out of the library. “This is an unusual situation,” Phillips said. “It’s not unusual for us to have a lot of holds on a book before its publication date.