I retire from the Patrick Heath Public Library later this month. The last few months have been an absolute roller coaster of emotions and memories.
I have so many people to thank and doing so in the pages of the newspaper that has always allowed us to talk about the library and the role it plays in our very special community means so much to me.
I gave the following remarks at an April 9, 2024 City Council meeting.
As I reflect on almost 23 years with the city of Boerne, I have realized that the physical structure of the library is important, and we couldn’t do what we do without it. But ultimately, people are at the heart of the library, most certainly this community’s library.
I stand on the shoulders of everyone who has helped shape the library that we see today. It is an army of people: some of whom are in this room tonight, but many who are no longer with us.
I am indeed fortunate to have worked with so many dedicated, visionary, intelligent and creative people who have contributed so positively to the Boerne library and moved it beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
I can never thank my staff enough for what they have done and continue to do, every day: To understand and try to address the needs of the people in this community.
To connect with and treat every person they encounter with kindness and respect.
To help people see that they are not alone, and not that different from anyone else.
My immense and overwhelming gratitude goes out to the countless people who have supported me and the library throughout these many years; I wish I had time to name them all. They include: library staff members; volunteers; board members; Friends and Foundation support groups; donors and sponsors; city staff members; city leadership team; city council members; county commissioners; other librarians and library staff, especially staff from our other two county libraries; the people who use the library’s many services and resources; and all my family, especially my sons who grew up at the library, and my husband, Jan, who is the reason I have been able to do this all-encompassing, all-consuming job for so many years. He truly has the patience of a saint.
In my time with the city of Boerne, I have gotten to do things I never imagined I would get to do when I first started in libraries 28 years ago.
No one day has ever been the same; the opportunities, and even the challenges, have been amazing and enriching. I could not have asked for a better place to land.
I will always be grateful that someone saw my potential years ago, even if it wasn’t clear to me, and that I got the chance to be a small part of a fantastic, forward-thinking and innovative organization.
There is a lot of division in the world, and I can’t solve that. But my overriding hope is that the public library should continue to be an institution that welcomes all people and provides safety and security to those in our society who need it.
So many things have changed, but the public library’s role in its community should not.
Thank you for everything. THE BOOKWORM
KELLY SKOVBJERG
HEATH LIBRARY DIRECTOR
Comment
Comments