The latest chapter for Carol Brock couldn’t have come with a happier ending.
It was four months ago when she decided it was time to step away as director of Francestown’s George Holmes Bixby Memorial Library. She has been preparing for when May 31 would come and her retirement would begin.
And with only a few days left on the job, family and friends, town officials, library trustees – both past and present – and residents packed the first floor of the library Tuesday night to celebrate all that Brock had done for their small town library.
For the last 15 years, Brock has made the library her second home. She started as the children’s librarian – with zero experience – soon after moving to town with her husband Stewart and their two children, Elyssa and Dylan.
She loved books and so did her kids, and with it being a part time job, it allowed for flexible hours to go to sporting events and be home for dinner.
“It was a perfect fit and I never looked back,” Brock said. “Now all of a sudden you turn around and you’re like, ‘OK, I’ve been here for a while.’”
Then when longtime director Joan Hanchett retired suddenly, Brock was one of a few library employees to step up and fill the void. She had learned a lot from Hanchett, and when she was chosen as the next director, Brock felt up to the challenge.
Not only did she help oversee the addition project beginning in 2008, where she can still remember the countless residents coming to help move the library down the street to a temporary space in Town Hall, but there was also the slow move to automation, which was met with mixed enthusiasm.
“She took over at a time of tremendous change and guess what, but we live in a town that doesn’t like change,” said select board chair Brad Howell.
Tabitha Monenee got emotional when talking about the impact Brock had on her two sons.
“Thank you for always being there for my boys,” Monenee said. “They think of you when they think of the library.”
Brock didn’t know what to expect from her retirement party, but never envisioned the turnout she got.
“I should say I’m surprised at the number of people, but I’m not,” said library trustee chairperson Jan Hicks. “…Your devotion is obvious by the many who have come here.”
Brock has many fond memories with former children’s librarian Mary Farrell – the pair were referred to as Lucy and Ethel – and all of the others she worked with over the last 15 years. She always made sure the library was decked out for every holiday, going the biggest for Halloween. There was also the time when they didn’t have access to a bathroom and had to run across the street.
But it was really all the residents who made the job not ever feel like one.
“I love the town. I love the people,” Brock said.
Former trustee Deborah Rogers said there are two words to describe Brock: kindness and enthusiasm (mostly for her over the top decorations).
“For lots of reasons we’ll miss you,” Rogers said.
She also told of the time when the trustees wanted Brock to get rid of a collection of old, musty National Geographic.
“She guarded them like Fort Knox,” Rogers said.
Howell cautiously joked to avoid anyone who might ask her to run for selectman now that she’s retired, something that happened to him, but also spoke to the impact Brock has made.
“We all owe you a great deal of thanks for all you’ve done,” Howell said.
“We can’t thank you enough for all you committed to the library,” Hicks said.
Brock was gifted a jewelry box crafted by trustee David Luther, made of padauk, an African wood, and birdseye maple, and a quilt made by Hicks that hung in a recent display. Brock liked it so much she inquired about a price, but Hicks had other plans.
“I told her you can’t afford it,” Hicks said.
“And I never asked again,” Brock added.
Stewart watched from the background as his wife put her mark on their town’s library, even having never worked in one before.
“What did she know about being a librarian? Nothing,” Stuart said. “But she had passion, she had creativity.”
It’s not like Brock is going anywhere, she just won’t be at the library anymore, unless she needs to check out a book. It was just time for a change.
“It’s been a wonderful 15 years, but I just decided I wanted to do other things,” Brock said.
Laura Abrahamsen will replace Brock as director, starting in early July.
Stewart told her to do nothing for a while, and Brock likes that idea. There will be days spent in the garden and hiking and paining historic floor cloths, but no schedule – at least for the summer. Eventually Brock wants to start crossing things off her bucket list. She wants to travel, with places like Ireland and Scotland at the top of the list, and of course spend more time with her children who live in Chicago and Boston.
“I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do,” Brock said. “But life moves fast and we want to go and try something else.”
When she closes up the library for the final time on Friday, it will bring about new opportunities for adventure. And she can’t wait to see what’s written next.