Last Monday, Columbus Day, the library was closed for its annual Fall Retreat. This day is so important for the library and for the library staff because it gives us all a chance to go off-site and to come together as a staff through fellowship and training. All jobs have their “moments,” of course, and the public library world is no exception. Working with the public can be difficult and keeping up in an ever-changing library landscape is and always will be challenging. But at the annual Fall Retreat, we have the chance to learn and share and grow and be inspired. This year, we visited the Schiappa Branch of the Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County. It was fun to explore their library-which seemed like a new building, despite being constructed in the 1980’s. Their staff was amazing and it was incredible and eye-opening to see how they do things. After a great lunch (you must have Scaffidi’s in Steubenville) we talked about the changes facing our library: new staff, a fundraising campaign for a big building remodel, and that ever-present thing called change. We laughed, we shared, and yes–we even cried a little. In the end, as we drove back home on State Route 250 past beautiful Tappan Lake, we felt renewed in a way that was long overdue. It is such a blessing to work with men and women at the Dover Public Library and it is moments like the Fall Retreat that make it undeniable that I am where I am supposed to be. It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of the Dover Public Library. I truly have the best staff a library director could ask for.
