Margaret Villarma, who will retire after 34 years from the Irene Ingle Public Library, said she will miss a lot about the job, particularly "the interaction with the community and helping people, because we are here to serve."
The Irene Ingle Public Library has undergone countless changes in the past three decades, from the digitization of its catalog to major building renovations to the advent of e-books. Library Director Margaret Villarma has guided the facility through it all, offering support to elders and fostering a love of reading in generations of Wrangell youth. Now, after 34 years, she is ready to retire.
"I'm just grateful for the job I had here," she said. "I really am. I enjoyed it. I couldn't have asked for a better career path to take. It was perfect for me. And the community is just so supportive of the library and everything that we do."
Alongside Assistant Librarian Sarah Scambler, she keeps the library up to date by culling books that don't get checked out and ensuring that the next big thing is in stock, whether that's "Harry Potter," the "Twilight Saga," or the community's current craze - graphic novels. "It just depends on what's popular right now," Villarma explained.
Under her leadership, the library started its summer reading program, which is famous among the island's school children for providing truly epic prizes. She has already begun to accumulate Lego sets, laser tag kits and skateboard decks for this summer's round of readers.
Not only does the program prevent "backsliding" - the learning loss that can occur during summer vacation - it has allowed Villarma to forge deeper connections with the young people of Wrangell. "It's fun to see all these kids go through the reading program," she said. "And now I see their children in the same reading program that they went through. ... So now, I'm looking at them as adults and they're bringing their children in. It's kind of nice."
Not only kids benefit from the services Villarma has provided during her tenure. Adults, particularly elders, take advantage of the technological support the library provides, like helping people set up their iPads, create email accounts or access e-books.
She's also aided community members in historical and genealogical research by poring over microfilms of archival newspapers, searching for evidence of a death date or trying to corroborate an anecdote from back in the day.
When she took the job in 1989, it seemed like a great way to ease back into the workforce while caring for her young family. Since then, as her family grew, the job "grew with my family," she said. "It was the perfect fit for me at that time."
Though Villarma looks forward to the freedom retirement will bring, "there's a lot of things I'll miss," she said. "Most of it is just the interaction with the community and helping people, because we are here to serve."
The borough is working to recruit and hire her successor before her official last day arrives on June 30. Villarma will be involved in this process, but Borough Manager Jeff Good will have the final word in hiring decisions.
Villarma is sure that whoever becomes the new library director will "be just fine," she said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what they do, because they'll bring new, fresh ideas."
She plans to spend her retirement traveling, visiting her grandchildren, cooking tasty meals and working on the projects she postponed while she was employed.
Despite this busy schedule, she's "still an old-fashioned book person" and has no intention of leaving the library behind. In the coming years, she'll get to enjoy the library's offerings without the pressure of running the show.
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