Charles M. “Skip” Auld, the longtime CEO of the Anne Arundel County Public Library, is retiring next year, and a national search is underway to find his successor.

Auld, who has helmed the county library system since 2010, will retire next February, ending a career in libraries that has spanned more than five decades, system officials said in a news release Wednesday.

In a statement, Auld said he “loved” his life’s work in libraries.

“Libraries spark imagination and expand access to knowledge through books, music, film, digital resources and especially through our knowledgeable staff,” Auld said. “It has been a privilege to work with dedicated library trustees and workers in service to our community.”

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Officials credited Auld with opening new libraries, expanding their offerings and making them more welcoming.

County Executive Steuart Pittman said in a statement that Auld “will be a hard act to follow.”

“Skip Auld turned Anne Arundel County Public Libraries into community gathering places, social service centers, teen sanctuaries, early childhood education centers and welcoming portals to knowledge of every kind,” the Democrat said. “His passion for the institution and the people who work in it is persistent and pervasive.”

Damita McDonald, chair of the library system’s Board of Trustees, thanked Auld for his service in a statement.

“Auld has guided our library system through a period of remarkable growth and innovation,” McDonald said. “His leadership has strengthened our libraries as essential spaces for learning, connection and opportunity.”

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Auld, who changed his first name from Hampton to Charles (his father’s middle name) after learning about his namesake and great-grandfather’s legacy as a Confederate general and enslaver, started as a clerk-typist at Duke University Libraries, according to the county library system. Auld then earned a master’s degree in library and information sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to work in libraries in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Under Auld’s leadership, the county built the Michael E. Busch Annapolis Library, the Riviera Beach Library and Discoveries: The Library at the Mall in Annapolis. Planning is underway for a new library in Glen Burnie.

Auld also championed diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, during his tenure, conducting an equity audit and creating a DEI team.

The library board has hired an executive search firm to lead a nationwide search for Auld’s successor. McDonald said the process will include input from staff, customers, officials and community leaders.