Fuller: Behind the desk

By Jill Fuller

Bows and paper are everywhere as we wrap holiday gifts, but it’s also the time of year to wrap up 2022 and look to the year ahead. For this month’s article, I’m taking you “behind the desk” at several Jefferson County public libraries. You’ll hear from library staff members as they share stories about their successes and challenges this year and reflect on why library work was meaningful to them in 2022.

“A frantic patron came in looking for help printing her train tickets from her phone for her trip later that day. My colleague was able to assist her and as he handed her the printed tickets, she shouted: ‘You have saved my life!,’ which we could all hear throughout the building. It really is wonderful to see the impact our services can have for people in our community,” Deb Bauer of the Dwight Foster Public Library in Fort Atkinson said. 

One day, after storytime at the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library in Whitewater, a parent and child went to the shelves to look for books. The daughter had a “Ladybug Girl” t-shirt on, so staff member Jessica Schmitz asked if she liked the Ladybug Girl books. 

“She and her mom both looked at me a little puzzled, so I walked them over to the section with the series in it. The little girl let out a happy shriek and her mom informed me that the shirt was a hand-me-down. They had no idea it was a book character. It absolutely made my day to see a young person get so excited about a new book series to read and it made me smile the rest of the day,” Schmitz said. 

The Johnson Creek Public Library recently celebrated their 120^th anniversary and as part of the celebration, they asked patrons to share a favorite memory of the library. Library patron Spencer Koenig shared that his favorite memory of the library was “when I went to the library and found a whole bunch of video games that I could rent and play a whole bunch of games for free. I have bipolar and anxiety so going out in public is not easy for me, but I get happy and excited to come and get more games and movies. The way they treat me and include me in helping the library get more popular games is priceless.”

Library staff make a difference behind the desk and in your communities every day of the year. As we look ahead to 2023, we can all support library staff and the work they do. Visit your public library, use your card to check out library materials or contact your local officials to share your stories of how the library and its staff benefit you and your community. 

“We live in difficult and fast paced times, and patrons come into the library with many things on their to-do lists. Helping people through their tasks while making their time in the library enjoyable is really rewarding to me. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to get to know many of the people in our community and play a part in making the library a place where people feel welcome,” Schmitz said. 

Jill Fuller is marketing and communications librarian at the Bridges Library System, of which public libraries in Jefferson and Waukesha counties are members.