Librarian recalls 32 years fondly

Schmitt to be honored at retirement open house Dec. 28

 

Three decades as a librarian is nothing to “Sssshhhh!” at. 

A lot has changed, noted Lavon Schmitt, who retires from the Valley Springs Library Dec. 28 after 32 years. 

While computers have replaced card catalogs and hand-stamping books with due dates, Schmitt’s love for books and kids has remained a constant.

“I really have fun with kids. It’s fun to see them get all excited about books,” she said. “Years ago, in the summer they’d bring in their reading logs, get prizes and we’d have a party.”

To this day Schmitt’s daughter’s childhood friend still talks about those summer book parties at the Valley Springs Library.

The soft-spoken librarian has seen her share of funny moments over the years, too, like a man who insisted he’d returned a book, handed over his library card and stomped out, only to return, sheepishly, months later, with the book. (He didn’t want his library card back – “which I thought was sad,” Schmitt said). Another customer in her 80s returned a Danielle Steel novel, threw it on the counter and angrily denounced it as “the dirtiest book she’d ever read.” The lady in line behind her, who was about the same age, raised her eyebrows and chuckled. “You’ve just got to skip those parts,” she said. “That’s what I do.”

Then there was the 4-year-old who asked Schmitt, “Have you read all the books this library?”

“They really do think I’ve read them all,” she said. “I just say, ‘Not yet.’”

While the number of kids who stop in has dwindled over the decades – “When they do come, it’s more families now,” Schmidt said – plenty still stop in. 

Karly Sarchet, 16, checks out books at least twice a week.

“I like that you don’t have to go all the way into town,” said Sarchet, who leans toward teen romance. 

Books have stood the test of time, as have libraries. When movies were added to Valley Springs’ collection, Schmidt thought, “Oh, there goes the books.”

A teen proved her wrong when he checked out a movie, then checked out the book on which the film was based. “The book was so much better,” he said. 

“People still like the physical book,” Schmitt said. “There’s something comforting about it. I asked my daughter if she wanted an e-reader, and she said no. She said, ‘I just love holding books.’”

She’s proud that she and her husband raised book-lovers. When another of their three children was a college freshman, they bought her a computer so she wouldn’t have to leave campus to use the computer labs there. One night they tried to reach her, with no luck. (This was prior to cell phones). The daughter had been researching, but not on her computer – at the local library. “When I go to the computer, there’s just too much,” she’d explained. “But when I go to the library, I open a book, and there it is.”

The Valley Springs Library began as a few shelves of donated books in the back of the fire hall in the early 1980s. As the collection grew, “the bookshelf,” as it was known, became the Valley Springs library. It was owned by the city many years before becoming part of Siouxland Libraries. 

Siouxland and the city have teamed up to host a retirement open house for Schmitt Thursday, Dec. 28, from 3-5:30 p.m. at the library/city hall. 

When Schmitt told Brandon librarian Sharon Hall she was retiring, she did so with a heavy heart. She even thought about calling her back to say she’d changed her mind. 

“I thought I’d wait until 70, which isn’t far away, but health problems have changed that,” she said. “Both my husband and I decided it’s time.”

The community is invited to the open house and celebration of Schmitt’s 32 years of service and dedication to not only the Valley Springs Library, but also all the people who have passed through over the years.