Dedicated Volunteers Keep the Library Going

Guests mingled around a spread of cookies, cakes, homemade dishes and a bowl of fruit punch during the annual Volunteer Appreciation Party held inside the Ehlers Meeting Room of Edith Wheeler Memorial Library Wednesday afternoon.

"This is our annual event," said Margaret Borchers, director of EWML. "All these goodies are made by the staff in your honor for all of the hard work you do all year long. This library couldn't operate without you. This is just a small way to let you know how much this means to us."

"Can we get you to help fill some potholes and go to the schools and do some work there?" First Selectman Steve Vavrek joked. "People appreciate what a great library you have and what a great staff you have and they don't realize you're not paid."

Staff members cooked and baked food to feed close to 40 volunteers attending the event. That night, they planned to hold a dinner for Friends of the Library, an organization that supports them.

Gail Wood, cataloguer at the library, appreciates the contributions of the volunteers.

"They're wonderful," Wood said. "Some of them are so steady you would think they work here. Sue York takes care of the processing of magazines. She has done it for years."

Though Wood is the cataloguer at the library, she often fills in for co-workers at other positions and said York frees her up to do that.

High school students come in twice a week to track books, CDs and DVDs that are six months old and no longer considered new. Wood said those periodicals can then be lent to other libraries.

Other students assist library staff with shelving and posting signs and notices.

"They do a tremendous amount of work for us," Wood said of the younger volunteers. "They're more than willing to do anything I ask them to do."

Not all of the volunteers are people. Dennis Gallagher of Monroe brings in Gracie, a service dog, for the Reading to Gracie program. Borchers said it allows children with disabilities to read aloud to someone who won't judge them.

"It's a therapy and has been proven to help children with their reading skills," she said.

Cathy Lindstrom and her husband Phil have been volunteering for the past few months. Cathy said they do what she calls "special projects."

"We are re-categorizing books to ultimately make it easier to find on the shelves," she said.

Phil has driven to people's homes to pick up books that are donated to the library. He first decided to volunteer when the Rotary Club of Monroe, of which he is treasurer, established the Rotary Room at the library and raised money to buy books.

Now that he is retired, Phil said he has more time to help.

Volunteering at the library can also lead to new careers. Pat Grabarz, a Monroe resident of 39 years, started out as a volunteer working in circulation at nights in the children's room in April of 2001, before being hired that September.

"I was the only volunteer they left at the desk. I guess they trusted me," Grabarz said with a smile. "Now I'm in tech service."