Letter to the Editor

Librarian remembered

Friday, August 6, 2010

Dear Editor,

I recently received a copy of your paper for Wednesday, July 7, 2010, in which there was an obituary for Ms. Melba Herrmann, former Head Librarian for the McCook Carnegie Library and the McCook Public Library.

My friend, Linda McGooden Hedges, who lives in McCook, mailed me a copy of the paper, knowing I would be interested in reading about the career of Mrs. Herrmann, not only because I am a librarian (ret.) but on one of my visits to your town a few years ago Linda and I toured the Carnegie Library, now part of the High Plains Museum.

Linda spoke fondly of Melba Herrmann, reminiscing about using the library during her high school years in McCook. According to Linda, Mrs. Herrmann was a kind, helpful and extremely knowledgeable librarian. She was also firm and didn't let the "bedlam" of a room full of teenagers get too out of hand. Linda also noted that Mrs. Herrmann never forgot people.

Almost fifty years later Linda "introduced" herself to Mrs. Herrmann at church and her response was "Oh yes Linda, I remember you."

I did not have the pleasure of meeting or getting to know Melba Herrmann but we share a great deal in our chosen profession of librarianship. The loss of a librarian is not just a local loss but is shared by all who love and use libraries.

Your citizens and the town of McCook are very fortunate to have a Carnegie library and to have had the services of such a dedicated librarian. Even though your historic library is now part of a museum, when I walked through the stacks or stood in front of the reference desk, I felt the presence of the librarian who dedicated her life to helping others. "Librarians are almost always very helpful and often almost absurdly knowledgeable. Their skills are probably very underestimated and largely underemployed." Charles Medawar.

I began my profession in 1976 with the San Jose Public Library. In that year San Jose had a population of approximately 750,000 people with a Main Library, seventeen branches and a bookmobile. When I retired 20 years later San Jose had grown to almost a million people and the library system had grown with it, consisting of a new Main library as well as over twenty branch libraries.

Yet my fondest memories are of my small neighborhood branch library, the East Carnegie, where at seven years old I received my first library card and checked out a wagon full of books every Saturday. The librarian, Miss Clough, held story hour every Tuesday afternoon, lighting a white candle which burned many colors. It was magic!

Librarians like Mrs. Herrmann are such gifts to your town and the libraries in which they served are the backbone of your community. It was Lady Bird Johnson who said: "Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest."