BIG CHANGES AT THE KELLEY LIBRARY

excepts from articles by Rebecca Correa
Lawrence Eagle Tribune
March 3, 2008 and June 27, 2008
submitted by Deborah Berlin
Kelley Library, Salem
(603) 898-7064
www.salem.lib.nh.us

"It's the end of an era at Kelley Library - The woman with the smiling face who was first seen in town behind the reference desk in 1965 and can now be found in the library director's office will step down after 31 years of service.

"Library Director Eleanor Strang, 61 will retire this summer - and she won't be alone when she walks out the door. Assistant Director Jean Williams, 60, who has worked at the library for 29 years, will retire on the same day.

"The team has worked together for decades, with a goal of bringing friendly service and the best technology to Kelley Library, but in June they will go their separate ways.

"Much has changed since Strang and Williams joined the library staff. The book collection grew from 50,000 volumes to 118,352. A safety campaign removed asbestos from the building, which was built in 1965. The current reference department and study room were built in 1978, located in what Strang still refers to as the "new addition." And the library introduced CDs, DVDs, and audio books to its collection.

"But Strang said the biggest change came in 1995 when the card catalog was ditched for a computerized system and the paper card system of checking out books was replaced with a computerized method.

" 'The biggest change definitely is the degree to which computerization has changed the way we do everything,' Strang said. "It's made everything much more efficient and effective."

"On Tuesday, July 1, Alison Baker, 54, takes over for retiring director, Eleanor Strang, who has worked at the library for 31 years.

"Baker grew up in New Jersey and earned her bachelor's degree in anthropology and the classics, then her master's degree in library science from Rutgers University.

"She spent the largest part of her life raising her children, now grown, and working in libraries in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, she got her first job as a library director in a town of just 9,000 residents. A few years later, she had worked her way up to become the director of a bookmobile that served an entire county. Baker and her husband have settled in Salem. She said she was eager to live closer to her sister in Stoneham, MA. In her spare time, she plans to read mystery books and continue to explore New England.

Pictured are retiring URBAN Librarians: Sue McCann, Portsmouth Public Library, Jean Williams and Eleanor Strang, Kelley Library, Salem. On Friday, June 27, 2008 URBAN Librarians celebrated this event with lunch in Portsmouth. Among the special guests were retirees Don Mullen (Dover) and Sherm Pridham (Portsmouth) and Lou Ungarelli formerly in Concord, now Lebanon. Present also were Alison Baker new Director in Salem and Steve Butzel new Assistant Director in Portsmouth. - by Janet Angus, Director, Merrimack Public Library, (603) 424-5021 · www.merrimack.lib.nh.us