The main door leads out of her office, down a flight of stairs, and onto the floor of the library, where she passes books, CDs and DVDs every day on her way into and out of the office.

"I'm a reader, so I always take books home, or rent our DVDs," Johnson said. "When you get to walk past the book displays every day, something always catches your eye."

In her new position as director of library services for San Mateo County--which oversees a dozen libraries from a central office location--books won't surround her, for the first time in her 19 years as a librarian.

The second, less conspicuous door, facing her desk, leads to one of the perks of the job she's enjoyed for nine years.

"I have my own bathroom," Johnson said through laughter. "But it's really just a quirk of the building that I have it."

On Aug. 29, Johnson formally announced her decision to leave Sunnyvale for the director position in San Mateo County, a move she said she had not been planning on until San Carlos' city manager suggested she apply.

"I wasn't really looking for a new job; it came looking for me," she said.

Johnson said she was spending much of October trying to get things taken care of before her departure and trying to say goodbye to as many of the 130 employees she worked with as possible. At one meeting, she couldn't get much more than tears out.

"I had an idea of what I wanted to say, and I only got about halfway through it before I got choked up," Johnson said, laughing. "We're really like a family. When you work together every day for nine years, you really get to know each other."

Supervising librarian Steve Sloan has worked with Johnson since coming to the library five years ago. He said that her leadership is one of main reasons he's stayed with the city.

"I've been working for 17 years in libraries, and more so than any other library I've worked in, she really takes a strong interest in staff and staff development," Sloan said. "It was really a pleasure coming to work for her every day."

Sloan said Johnson's presence will be missed when she leaves because of the ways she's changed the way the library is run. She was key in implementing the "FISH! Philosophy" born in Seattle's famous Pike Place Market. The business model--used by companies like Target and Chevron--tries to improve services to customers by encouraging employees to have fun and be energetic at work.

She also led staff through the creation of a 10-year strategic plan for the library, as part of the library sub-element part of the city's long-term plans.

"In a way, I wasn't surprised when I heard she was leaving," Sloan said, while talking about Johnson's experience and expertise. "She's kind of outgrown this place."

Johnson said she's going to miss the people who come to the library. Because of Sunnyvale's position in the heart of Silicon Valley, she saw a number of highly educated visitors, immigrant families and concerned parents, all of whom took advantage of the library's resources daily. Johnson said the Sunnyvale Library--possibly because it's one library serving a fairly large city--circulates more items each hour than any other library in the state. In addition, circulation has risen 50 percent in the last 30 years, up to almost 96,000 registered borrowers from Sunnyvale and the surrounding area.

On Nov. 29, Johnson will take over in San Mateo County, going from a busy municipal library in Sunnyvale to a widespread county library system, covering Atherton, Foster City, Portola Valley, Belmont, Half Moon Bay, San Carlos, Brisbane, Millbrae, East Palo Alto, Woodside and two locations in Pacifica. The county has been without a permanent director of library services for almost three years.

Administrative Librarian Susan DennistonÑwho served directly below JohnsonÑwill serve as acting director. She has been with the city since 1989, after working for both the Silicon Valley Library System and the San Jose Public Library.

"Having multiple libraries from which to serve people is really exciting," she said. "But I'm going to be on the road a lot."

In addition to the wider service area, she will be answering to more people than just one city council and staff. She has to work with the governments of each individual city, as well as a council made of one elected official from each city and an official from the county.

"I'm going to be learning a lot, because I've always worked in municipal libraries, and the county library serves 11 cities, with 12 libraries and a bookmobile," Johnson said. "I'm excited because I'll learn a lot, but I have some trepidation because I know I have a lot to learn."