Lou’s View – May 22, 2014
The People of the Library
by Lou Bernard
The Ross Library opened a hundred and four years ago, when Annie Halenbake Ross died and left her home to the city of Lock Haven. It’s had a long history in this community. I’ve only been part of it just recently.
Two years, as of this week. It’s my anniversary. I’ve been working at the Ross Library for a fiftieth of a century!
On May 24, 2012, I came to join the Ross Library as the new Adult Services Coordinator. I signed on to this wonderful job, and have been enjoying it ever since. My desk is in the old section of the building, originally built by Mayor Robert Bridgens, and I can see the homes of Abe Lipez and John Everett Brown from my window. I get to sit among the works of Henry Shoemaker and John Blair Linn.
I love this.
I’ve joined a long line of people who have worked here, some of whom I know about, and some of whom I’m discovering. From the first day the library opened, which was Thanksgiving of 1910 for some reason. The first head librarian was Annie Taggart, who was employed in 1910 and 1911 before leaving. (She had one assistant, Annie Mitchell. I suspect Mitchell was a volunteer; in those days, “Head Librarian” often meant “only librarian.”) In 1915 she went on to be a librarian at the Normal School, now Lock Haven University. That’s all I know about her; records are sketchy.
Florence Huling took over for her, serving as head librarian for eight years. She left in mid-1919, moving out to Ohio to take a job at the Van Wert County Library. She would occasionally come back and visit her brother, Courtland, who lived on Water Street. (Florence and Courtland may have been related to Jared P. Huling, Lock Haven’s first recorded town council president, but I’m guessing there—I haven’t totally figured it out yet.)
Next in line was Elveretta Blake, who accepted the job and moved down from Worcester, Massachusetts in early 1920. On January 1, 1920, the Clinton County Times reported,”Mrs. Elveretta Blake, who was recently elected librarian of the Ross Library, arrived here from Worcester Mass. Last Thursday and assumed her duties on Friday.”
Blake, however, was not exactly destined to go down in history as the longest-lasting employee. Two months later, on Friday, March 5, the Times reported,”Mrs. Elveretta Blake, who has been librarian of the Ross Library for several months, has resigned her position on account of ill health and returned to her home at Worcester, mass.” (Elveretta Blake kind of reminds me of Harry Swope, who served three months as Lock Haven mayor.)
The next two head librarians stayed longer. Mary Elizabeth Crocker took over after Blake, and stayed until 1942. Mary Elizabeth Crocker is one of my heroes, having also served as curator of the historical society. She was best known for saving books during the 1936 flood, physically carrying them up the stairs to the attic to get them above the water line. Mary Crocker was pretty heroic, for a poet and librarian. She passed away in 1942.
And then Isabel Welch Pons took over. Isabel was the longest-lasting head librarian this place ever had, remaining in the job for forty-two years. A portrait of her hangs in the corridor to the Pennsylvania Room, a pleasant-looking woman. She was largely responsible for beginning the historic archives at the Ross Library, the same archives I used to write this article.
Isabel retired in 1984, and was replaced briefly by Bonnie Hometchko. Hometchko worked at the library for two years. I couldn’t look up her obit, mostly because she’s still alive down in North Carolina.
And finally, Diane Whitaker became the library’s director. Diane is the second longest-lasting head of the library, right between Isabel Welch Pons and Mary Elizabeth Crocker. She’s been with the Ross Library since 1986, and still holds the position. Also, she hired me. (Which, you may recall, was the point of the column.)
And today is my anniversary. Two years—Hopefully, two years out of many; I have no plans to go anywhere. I love this job. My retirement plan is to have a heart attack at my desk someday.
I never thought about working for the library before. But I love doing it, and everything worked out. It’s like Henry Shoemaker wrote: “Life could not exist, or the world go on, unless the majority of events ended fortuitously.”
