7QUESTIONS+PLUS

Mary Ellen Close, the director of the Randall Community Library system. A former Peace Corps volunteer who still loves to travel, Closes says for her a great evening at home involves a cup of hot chocolate, her Great Pyrenees and a good mystery. She admits to being a Trekkie and she enjoys bird-watching, and playing the flute player, too. This week she offers a few book recommendations and and her perspective on why the library board is resistant to recording its meetings ...

Mary Ellen Close will now take your questions ...

What are your duties as a library director? When I was first hired, my duties included everything, from ordering and processing materials to checking items out to cleaning the bathrooms. Now that the library has grown, my duties are primarily administrative. I report to the library board and provide financial records and other statistical materials to its members. I am responsible for hiring and supervising staff and for creating procedures to implement the policies set by the board. I admit it is more fun when a project comes along. When the library moved to new rented quarters in Silver Lake a few years ago, the staff took on the job of remodeling. Wielding a sledge hammer and a paint brush was a nice change of pace from sitting at a desk.

What led you to a career in the library? When I returned to Wisconsin after graduate school, there was no library serving western Kenosha County. My mother was part of a group of dedicated volunteers working to remedy that, and I started doing volunteer work with them. When the library became a legally established public library, I applied for the one paid position that was created. I thought it would be temporary, but 27 years and one library science degree later, I am still here.

Can you explain why the library board doesn’t want to record its meetings? Why not record the meetings, if only to remove any doubt that there’s no wrongdoing of any kind? I am not a board member, so I am not sure I can speak for them. However, as some board members have pointed out, they are a group of volunteers who are providing a service to their communities. They are not necessarily political animals, and they are not interested in sound bites or political grandstanding. I think the feeling is that recording meetings changes the dynamics of the meeting. All library board meetings are public meetings, open to anyone who is interested. If anyone has concerns about the library, he or she should attend a meeting.

What are some of the features you’d most like to see in the plans for the new Twin Lakes-Randall library? There’s also been controversy about who should pay for the new library; who do you think should fund it? The one thing that would instantly make the staff happiest would be enough shelf space to house the collection of materials needed to serve the population of Randall and Twin Lakes, so take that as a given. I would like to see the new building take on one of the library’s goals: to serve as a “gathering place” for the community. The library’s planning committee has proposed space designed to attract teens, room for seniors to read and relax, and an expanded children’s programming area. I would also like to see a room for local history and genealogy studies, since these are areas of interest to many users.
     A public library is a public building, as much a part of the community as a school or town hall or fire station, so I feel it is appropriate that it be primarily funded by tax payers. That said, our Friends of the Library and others associated with the planning are certainly going to pursue whatever leads we find to obtain grants or donations to offset some of the costs.

What significant changes have you seen over the years in the library system? The Community Library today is vastly different from what it was when I became the director. In 1980, there was a paid staff of one supported by a hardworking group of volunteers. The library was housed in two small rooms in Salem Grade School and was open only after school and on Saturdays. There were no computers. The card catalogue showed what titles we owned, people signed their names on the card taken from the book to check it out, and we had stamps and stamp pads for marking the date due. We had no videos, and CDs and DVDs were not yet in existence (though we did have a collection of LPs.) Today, the Community Library has facilities in Salem, Silver Lake, and Twin Lakes. We share an automation system with Kenosha Public Library, and users have access to all the materials at both institutions. The collection now includes audio books, large print books, videos, CDs, and DVDs. Interlibrary loan allows us to get materials from anywhere in the country. Our office functions and the circulation system are computerized, and there are computers available for public use as well.

With the rise of the Internet and audio books, do you think libraries are a dying resource? Statistics generated on both a national and local level would say otherwise. Library use has gone up in recent years even as the number of Internet users has skyrocketed. For some people, holding the actual book will always be preferable to reading a computer screen, and most avid readers cannot afford to buy every title they want to read. Libraries can be the source for the audio books that people want to take on their commutes, and libraries can make computers available to those who do not have them at home. Library buildings, open evenings and weekends, can provide the public space where groups of all kinds can meet. Libraries can also be the information source where people can get reliable information, using the searching skills of librarians to find and identify the materials, whether in print form or online, that actually meet their needs.

What’s your favorite film that’s been adapted from a book? If I like a book, I am often disappointed in the movie, since the images my mind provides are often different from the ones the filmmakers produce. One of my favorite films is “The Great Escape” and in this case, the cast, the settings, and the soundtrack more than did justice to the book.

If you weren’t working at a library, what other job might you be doing? I have a math/science background and a degree in environmental engineering, so if I hadn’t fallen into library work, I probably would be working in a field which would use that earlier training.

What is a book you think everyone should read once? “To Kill a Mockingbird” is certainly on my list of great books that everyone should read. It tells an important story worth thinking about and worth discussing; it beautifully evokes a time and place; you can enjoy it as a reader in middle school and find new understanding when you reread it as an adult.

What are your thoughts on the Harry Potter phenomenon and how it’s influenced young readers? J.K. Rowling is the best thing that’s happened for young (and old) readers in years. I think it is wonderful that you can have kids and parents reading, discussing, and enjoying the same books. My guess is that for some people, reading Harry Potter was the first time they found reading to be a pleasure and not a chore, and that discovery will open up so many new worlds to them.

What was your favorite book as a child? What is your favorite book now? As a very young child Margaret Wise Brown’s “Good Night, Moon” was my favorite. I wanted to check it out every time we went to the library, but my parents would not let me bring it home again if I had just returned it. In grade school I discovered Rosemary Sutcliffe. I read everything she wrote, but “Knight’s Fee” was my favorite. In high school, I read and reread T. H. White’s “The Once and Future King.” Today my favorite author is Dorothy L. Sayers. I own all of her works, and even though I know the guilty party in all of her mysteries, I still enjoy rereading her books.

What do think about the restrictions or bans placed on certain books by schools? Are there any specific books that have been banned in the Randall library system? I am a firm believer in “Every reader his book; every book its reader.” A public library has an obligation to provide a wide variety of materials, to offer opposing view points, and to try to meet the informational and recreational needs of all of its users. School libraries have a different mission, since their function is primarily to support the curriculum. Nevertheless, I do not think banning a book or restricting its use serves any worthwhile purpose. If a book forces someone to examine his or her beliefs or to consider a different point of view, I see that as a good thing. Fortunately, there are no specific books that have been banned at the Community Library. If a patron does not like a particular title, there is an easy solution: don’t check it out.