My Stories

Leaving the library was one of the hardest things I ever did. I had not really planned to retire until I was 72, but when I was about 62 I started getting the feeling I should start putting things in order just in case. I began pulling together information and writing different instruction manuals. I went through old papers and discarded things we didn't need. I went through lots of things in closets and old files and put them into binders in the Idaho Archives. I tried to imagine what would be helpful to a new supervisor coming in to the job and then put those things together. I still wasn't planning to leave. A couple of months after Gaila retired I began to have the impression that I should 'get out'. It was an urgent feeling similar to the one I had when I felt I should not be involved with the supervisors at the shooting range. I still enjoyed the work, but felt anxious that I needed to obey the Spirit. It wasn't really a good time financially because I wasn...

One vendor was selling the computer program to create these READ photos. One year when I was working at the library, the director sent me to the American Library Association Annual Conference which was held in Seattle. Kathryn Poulter went with me. She was really excited and I was very nervous. With my weird health issues and how heavy I was I just wasn't sure I would be able to manage to attend all the events and walk the distances required. Kathryn was very optimistic and sure everything would be fine. She gave me courage. We were staying for several days and we were in the fanciest hotel I've ever been in. The conference had a multitude of classes and events. You could watch committees as they evaluated books for different awards and that was very interesting. Thousands of vendors had their wares set up for everyone to view. It could take two days just to visit all of them. In the evenings they had banquets, or some people went out to local establishments. One night we...