Fond Farewells

You will soon miss seeing three familiar faces at the library. This week we are bidding adieu to our Director, Stephen Kershner. Long-time Children’s Librarian Eileen Sullivan retired a few weeks ago. Fiction, Movies and Music Manager Connie Regan will depart at the end of this month. As they move on to the next chapter in their lives, I’ve asked them each to share a few thoughts about what they are most proud of, what they will miss the most, and what they are most looking forward to in retirement.

Stephen Kershner capped a distinguished career in library management in Ohio, Michigan, and Florida by taking the helm at Cook Memorial in time to oversee the move into our renovated Cook Park facility in January, 2011.

• He is most proud of “the nationally recognized and award winning services and programs offered to library users by the fine CMPLD staff, and of our libraries being an important ‘Third Place’ in people’s lives.”
• He will miss “people: colleagues, patrons and friends. I am always saying that in libraries we are not in the book business. We are in the people business.”
• He has emphatically not enjoyed Illinois winters, so he is most looking forward to “being warm in Florida (LOL) and having time to travel and spend quality time with family and friends.”

Eileen Sullivan devoted over 34 years to providing outstanding library service to the children and parents of our district.

• She is most proud of “taking the Children’s Department through an exciting period of growth with new programs for babies and toddlers added to traditional storytimes; fostering close relationships with all of the schools in the district; offering special services to students and teachers; and the development of a staff dedicated to creating a place children love to visit.”
• She will miss “the day to day contact with the patrons of the Library District. Being so warmly greeted each day by the patrons I met, and thanked (for just doing my job) is a memory I’ll keep with me forever.”
• She is looking forward to “doing things on the spur of the moment, traveling,  and keeping in touch with all the friends I made during my career.”

There is still time to stop in and say good-bye to Fiction, Movies and Music Manager Connie Regan, who is retiring at the end of this month after 26 years of helping patrons find books, movies and CDs that suit their tastes.

• She is most proud of “being part of a Readers’ Advisory team that provides a unique community service to book clubs and avid readers.”
• She will miss “the patrons who frequent the library every few days looking for another good book, and I’ll especially miss the friends I’ve made among the staff.”
• The extremely well-read Connie is looking forward to even more reading! She will enjoy “catching up on all the good books I’ve missed, riding my bike and having time to cook.”

As you can see, all three of these dedicated managers will dearly miss patrons and colleagues, who will in turn dearly miss all of them. Happy retirement to all!