Two Librarians Cull Chaos into Order
You can take the librarian out of the library, but you can’t take the library out of the librarian.
When Ely Roll arrived at the Plains at Parish Homestead from Long Island in 2010, she found the library in disarray. “There were books piled on tables and nothing was alphabetized,” she said. “It was frustrating.”
Roll had spent her life volunteering in school and public libraries, and this simply would not do. Over the next four years donations poured in, and by 2014, she and fellow resident Janice Vartuli, Sidney Memorial Public Library’s retired director, had to reorganize and cull the donations to a manageable number.
And on Sunday, June 22, the Heritage Village Lending Library held an open house to showcase the efforts of the library committee, which also included residents Bob Nonenmacher and Brigitte Beehler, as well as staff member Christina Wood.
The first thing that had to go was the enormous table that blocked several shelves. “You couldn’t get through with a walker,” said Roll.
Some $6,000 was raised from private donations, and a smaller table, as well as several new chairs and a rocker, were purchased for the library. Wheels were affixed to the bottom of the chairs for ease of movement. “People can come in, sit down and look at a book,” said Roll. “It’s relaxation.”
“These residents are educated people,” said Vartuli. “We want to keep learning. We have to keep stimulated.”
Next came the culling of the books that had piled up. “We had a copy of ‘David Copperfield’ on the shelf as long as I’ve been here, and no one has ever taken it out,” said Roll. “Out it went.”
Extra copies, paperbacks with too-small print and most of the 100 David Baldacci novels were donated to Fox Hospital’s Auxiliary book drive. “Baldacci’s my favorite, but he’s down to one shelf,” said Roll.
The books were then organized by category and alphabetized.
But there were so many books that the library couldn’t contain them all – so they made mini-libraries elsewhere. The children’s books are stacked in a cabinet with games and crafts in the second floor Billiards Room, and two shelves of religious, self-help and biographies are stacked outside.
“What people really want is music biographies,” said Roll. “We’ll put them next to the CDs in the third-floor lounge.”
Most popular are the large-print editions, which Vartulu says they’re always looking for more of. Donations can be dropped off at the front desk.
“I just hope we never end up just with just Kindles,” said Roll. “I love the feel of a book in my hand!”
