Gyles learned about the position while job hunting online in 2007, was hired last year, and has since taken on a number of projects aimed at improving how the library serves Scotland County.
The Navy veteran, who spent six of his 20 years in the service as a pilot, identifies his high level of availability as the most important change the library has undergone so far during his tenure.
"I think being here and being approachable is the most important accomplishment (so far)," Gyles said, sitting in his tucked away office behind the North Carolina history-themed "Heritage Room" of the library.
"The most important thing for me is to be approachable. If somebody wants to talk to me, I don't care what about, we'll talk. If somebody needs something, I'll help them. My role is to be here, and be available to the users of the library."
After joining the library, Gyles said he spent a lot of time simply listening to what the locals he met had to say about the institution. Much of it wasn't pretty, he said. The time he spent listening has informed his work, and it is clear he has taken personally the challenge of healing the library's relationship with the community.
The most glaring flaw Gyles noticed immediately after stepping into the director's chair was the unappealing state of the library's collection. Books were out of order, and in too many cases damaged.
"We went through the collection, literally book-by-book, organizing it, getting rid of outdated material and material in poor condition, 'poor condition' meaning books that were falling apart, molded and mildewed. 'Get that stuff off the shelf!' we said."
Now, Gyles said, people who come into the library have a higher probability of finding the book they are looking for than before his arrival. That, he said, is the first success of what will be many.
Asked what attracted him to the job, Gyles said that the size and quality of the town of Laurinburg had a lot to do with his decision. He and his wife and their nine-year-old son moved to Scotland County from Savannah, Ga., where Gyles worked for Gulf Stream Aerospace, the famous manufacturer of luxury jet liners, as a corporate librarian.
"We wanted to get out of Savannah and into a smaller town where we could be active participants in the community ... and we wanted to live in a place where our son could thrive."
And speaking of gulfs, the Michigan native understands that there would seem to be one between the working life of a Navy pilot and that of a librarian. In actuality, he says, his work in the Navy has a lot more in common with what he is doing now than people might think.
Once he completed college Gyles entered the military, where he "had enough aircraft carrier landings to know that it scares the crud out of you, and that it's not fun or easy, no matter how Hollywood movies make it look."
While in the Navy he earned his first master's degree, from the University of Southern California. His second would come from the other "USC", the University of South Carolina.
When piloting became more of a hassle than it was worth, Gyles started working as a maintenance officer, where "the intensity diminished, but the stress level remained high". As a maintenance officer, he worked "baby sitting F-14s", with the pressure of making certain they were flight-ready at all times.
"I either had a library I was responsible for or was in a position where I had to inspect libraries the whole time," Gyles said, relating his Navy career to his current one.
The management skills, he said, transfered from the Navy to his position as a public librarian in Georgia, to his job at Gulf Stream and now to his role as director of the Scotland County Public LIbrary.
"The collection is the only real difference. In the past it was repair documentation for aircraft, and now it's different -- but I am still overseeing a budget, programs, and people."
Many people who have retired from high action careers, like Gyles, spend their lives searching for a way to replace the excitement. That is not the case for Gyles, who is happy to be working in Laurinburg and enjoying time with his family.
"Do I miss flying? Sometimes, yes. Would I like to do it again? Probably. But, like I said, I have a nine-year-old."
Gyles and his son have spent much of their time over recent weekends cleaning up around the library, and people have noticed.
Gyles' wife, who has also worked as a librarian, is currently a full-time mom. As evidence of the visible changes Gyles has made, she was recently told by a woman whose house neighbors the library that her own husband was forced to clean up their lawn because of how well-landscaped the library now appears.
While progress has been made, there are still many challenges ahead of Gyles. The Bookmobile, which is now over 20 years-old, is currently having engine trouble, a children's librarian is needed, and the creation of a "Friends of the Library" organization and the installation of a new, state-of-the-art, asset security system in the library are all issues to be addressed.
According to Gyles, even the library building itself is too small to serve a community of Scotland County's size.
"Expanding the library is a distant goal," he said.
More likely to be taken care of in the coming weeks and months is the development of a "Friends of the Library" group. Gyles is currently taking names of those interested, with sign up sheets at the library's front desk. The implementation of a new asset security system has become a pet project of his as well. Money raised by the library in the past would likely be spent on the project, which would see radio frequency tags attached to each book in the library. Gyles has prepared a detailed and persuasive presentation to be presented to local government officials to convince them of the importance of the project.
With the new system checkout speed would be increased, and book theft would become a near impossibility. The most interesting feature of the new system, and the one Gyles breaks out into a smile at the thought of, would be the ability to locate any book in the library with a hand held radio device. Whether the book was in the stacks or in the restroom, it could be found.
"I want this. I need this," Gyles said when talking about the system.
With all of those projects in mind, he remains focused on his most important goal.
"My job is to meet the informational needs of Scotland County".
So far, that has meant helping one resident who was building a house find information about constructing a "green home" and helping another who received a job offer contingent on his ability to read blueprints; Gyles helped him find literature teaching blueprint reading.
"People aren't as aware of the services we offer as I want them to be," he said.
In response to the current unemployment crisis, Gyles' shelves currently have a section dedicated to helping unemployed locals find jobs.
With all of this accomplished since August, Scotland County residents have to be excited when they consider what their library might offer in the future. Leon Gyles sure is.
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