Betty Ann Swartz will close book on 40-year career in the library’s Junior Room

A friend has suggested that if Betty Ann Swartz ever writes a book, she should title it Off Washington. Swartz grew up on Lewis Street, off Washington. She now lives on Ridgehill Road, off Washington Street. And on October 2, Swartz will retire after a 40-year career at the Canton Public Library, off Washington.

Betty Ann and Vic Swartz

A graduate of Canton High School, Swartz was looking for a job when her father saw a newspaper ad for a position as an assistant in the Junior Room at the library. Swartz applied for the position and on Christmas Eve 1969, Library Director Margaret Doody phoned to offer her the job. Swartz began working at the library on January 5, 1970.

“I always wanted to work with children,” Swartz said. “(Children’s Librarian) Eleanor Leonard knew the library. She was wonderful to train under.” Subsequent children’s librarians have included Cathy Stetson, Terry Friedman, Sue Akie, Margy O’Donnell, Frances Hutchins, and Ann Woodman.

Swartz’s responsibilities in the Junior Room include Story Time, the Summer Reading program, processing new books for the collection, and helping children find something good to read. She especially enjoys running into those now grown-up kids.

“I see the kids grow up and they say, ‘You’re still here!’” she said. “I’ve been lucky. It has been a wonderful place to work. I never thought about looking for a different job. I never had that feeling. I’m never bored.”

In 1994, Library Director Mark Lague asked Swartz if she would take over the Young Adult Collection on the first floor. Since that time, she has worked in the Junior Room four days a week and in the Young Adult Collection one day a week, putting together a collection of books for a different age group.

The biggest change Swartz has seen at the library is the new addition to the building. She has also noticed an increase in the number of visitors, especially since Canton became part of the Old Colony Library Network. In addition, Swartz no longer stamps due date cards as the library now uses a receipt system. She has also loved working with the Friends of the Canton Public Library and counts the library trustees among her friends.

Swartz experienced a very personal life change through her job. Marci Chodroff worked at the library as a page, putting books back on shelves, when she was in high school. One day, after Chodroff had left for college, her mother dropped in to the library and mentioned to Swartz that her husband, a dentist, had a very nice patient and that perhaps Swartz, who was single, might like to meet him. Swartz agreed. Today, she and that nice patient, Vic Swartz, have been married for 18 years and enjoy spending time at their cabin in New Hampshire. “I would never have gotten married if I hadn’t come here,” Swartz said.

She is very close to her colleagues. “I can’t say enough about the people I work with,” she said. “I’m not leaving my coworkers; I’m leaving my family. Mark (Lague) would try to please the whole staff if he could. He’s fantastic.”

“She is the sweetest, kindest person I have ever met,” Lague said. “That’s really not an exaggeration. If you get sick, you can be assured that that you will receive a card from Betty Ann. She adds such an element to our staff with her caring. It’s an extraordinary gift to have that level of empathy with people.”

In addition to Lague and Margaret Doody, Swartz has worked with library directors Ann Jackson (1972-1973), Mary Lane (1973-1978), Jeannette McDonald (1979-1983), and Cathy Stetson (1983-1984).

Swartz will be honored at a party for retiring town employees at the Canton Town Club on September 30 (tonight) and at a staff party at La Scala Restaurant in Randolph in October.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Sep 30 2010. Filed under Features, News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.