By Caroline Lanni, Reporter
The day Patricia Campbell walked into the Conant Public Library she knew she wanted to work there and be a part of its history.
On August 24, 1998, she started her library career at the age of 50. Twenty-three years later, Campbell is retiring. Campbell’s last day at the library is August 31, 2021.
Campbell said that the best part of her job was, “serving the public – it’s an incredible American institution where we provide entertainment and information, and the key part of this is connecting our youngest citizens with literacy and the joy of reading.”
She added that, “I think everybody who works in a library pretty much fell in love with them as a child, and it’s just a love affair.”
Campbell said that she is retiring now because she wants to do other things, and that it’s time for the library to have new people and new ideas along with them.
They are still in the process of finding a person to replace Campbell as the library director, she said.
Alex Grebinar will potentially serve as interim director as they continue interviewing for the position.
Campbell grew up in Turners Falls, Massachusetts and one of her favorite buildings was always the library.
“The library had all kinds of wonderful books and the people there were just so helpful and we went all the time,” she said.
Campbell added that her parents made it a “real commitment” to get them to the library as much as they could. “I think so many people who work in libraries have that similar experience where this world opens up to them and you can afford it because it’s free.”
She graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in English.
After college she did many different jobs such as being a teacher, assisting in non-profits, working as a cleaning lady, and then started a family and had three children.
Campbell then became a president of the Friends of the Library, a library trustee, and then once out of office as a trustee she became the library director at the Conant Library.
She said that she loves her job and “It’s a real joy to love what you do.”
One thing she is going to miss about her job is the people of all ages, and she is going to miss “people who just love the library – the staff – we have a fabulous staff – it’s a great place to be.
“We have just a fabulous group of trustee volunteers and friends of the library that are incredible and raised well over $10,000 a year to help us support all kinds of programs,” especially the electronic resources, said Campbell.
She added that being at the library this long, “it’s been quite an adventure.”
Campbell said when she started, they still checked out books with physical cards to be stamped and made that transition to the electronic check out circulation system while adding public computers.
“It has been a rollercoaster ride.”
She said, “One of the main things people are looking for is community, and the library here in the center of Sterling is a central place for community in our town.”
Campbell said her first few things she will do once she retires is to connect more with her friends, and family, and plans on visiting the Shirley library.
“It’s just been a privilege to be part of the history of this library, and to pass it on now,” said Campbell.
She said that it’s hard to pick a favorite book, but those would be – The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and The Once and Future King by T.H. White.
“It’s been an honor and a pleasure to work over 23 years with all the wonderful Trustees, Friends of the Library, and with the other Town Departments. The greatest joy of this position, though, has been working with the amazing team at the library, and seeing generations of new readers grow up loving books, and in meeting and making friends with patrons of every age who share a love of libraries and books. I’ve been so lucky to have found a job that is truly a labor of love,” Campbell added.
CREDIT: Caroline Lanni