Bowlby Library director retiring
Kathy McClure still remembers the thrill of being a child climbing the stairs to the children’s section on the second floor of the Eva K. Bowlby Public Library.
Her mother would regularly drive her and her four younger siblings from New Freeport to the Waynesburg library.
“We lived far into the country, and she just didn’t have the time to bring us to story time,” she said. “But we always came every two weeks on grocery day and got our books. So it’s like a second home.”
That connection has deepened over the years, leading to multiple staff positions at the facility.
Now, after more than 30 years with the library, McClure is moving on to the next chapter.
McClure, who has been the library’s executive director since 2005, announced last month she is retiring effective Jan. 2.
Since she made the announcement, person after person have come forward to tell McClure how much she’ll be missed and what an asset she’s been to the community. So did the regular library patrons she told ahead of the official news.
“It’s been a very humbling experience so far,” she said. “And I think it’s probably going to get more emotional. I really had mixed feelings. If I was just a bit younger and my health was just a bit better, I would be staying a bit longer. But 68 is a good age to start thinking about taking some time for yourself.”
McClure joined the library staff in 1994 as director of youth services and assistant director, also serving as acting director twice in that time after other directors left.
After her children were of school age, she’d gone back to school at what was then Waynesburg College for a degree in elementary education. Once the youth services position became open, she jumped at it. It gave her the flexibility to continue raising a family while also using her love of libraries to plan programs, choose books and teach children.
In 2005, after the third director left, the board approached McClure about taking on the top position.
It wasn’t an automatic yes.
She loved her work in the children’s department, and getting “to plan really exciting programs and see their little faces all light up.”
But she also knew how hard it was to go through transitions when another director left. She went back to school at the University of Pittsburgh for her master’s degree in library and information sciences, and ascended to the top spot.
“I feel very privileged to have been able to serve the community in the way that I have,” she said. “I feel like the library is such an important asset to any community. It gives free access to all information for anyone who is willing and able to be able to come to the library to receive that information.”
As for the progress they’ve made since McClure started, she didn’t know where to begin.
Enamored of the “beautiful, historic building” they use, McClure has kept up maintenance with new roofs, porches and drainage. The library added a parking lot, and also a gazebo, where children get to enjoy summer programs in the shade.
The young adult room is being redesigned to replace “fuddy-duddy furniture” with something more inviting, she said.
There’s also the ongoing work on making sure the shelves are stocked with new, relevant material.
“That is not something that is intuitive to most people, so it’s something that you have to train people to do,” she said. “And I feel that we’ve done that.”
The library’s influence has expanded beyond the walls of the Bowlby, doing outreach at day care centers, preschools, and nonprofits.
Over the years, McClure was blessed with supportive boards who backed “all my crazy ideas” if the funding was there.
She’s also been supported by family.
When her children were young, they would come to help cut things out or paint. After her husband retired from the mines, he joined the staff as a custodian.
Her granddaughter has worked at the library for six years. Her grandson, who’s been mowing the yard for years, is now an intern.
“It’s become a family affair,” she said. “It’s going to be a huge change for all of our lives. But I feel I’m well past retirement age, and it’s kind of time to hand the reins over to somebody else.”
McClure had let the board president and governance chair know she intended to retire, to give the board plenty of time to plan for a replacement. Her official letter of retirement came in April.
And what qualities would McClure like to see in a new director?
For one, whoever succeeds her will need to love the community, and have a good sense of what it needs and wants.
They’ll also need a strong knowledge of library science — and of business, and of how to manage a staff.
“You’re (human resources), you’re building management, you’re the library director, you’re library services, you’re the finance management,” she said. “You’re just wearing many, many hats.”
McClure won’t fully step away from libraries just yet. To ease the transition, she’ll stay on as Greene County’s library system administrator for another year.
She’ll be willing to provide guidance to the new director, but doesn’t want to interfere.
“I feel like when a new person comes in they should have the same opportunity to be able to make the library the library that they want it to be,” she said.
Once the new director is settled in, she’d like to come back to the library as a volunteer.
First, she and her husband are going to travel more. Starting in January, the quick trips to see her sons — one in Alabama, one in Kentucky – can afford to last a little longer.
“We started our family young, so it’s kind of time for us to be together,” she said.