Long-time librarian now calls middle school home
Anyone entering the New Richmond Middle School library today sees a well-stocked and organized space.
That’s far from the vision guests would have seen this summer as the efforts to consolidate school buildings were in full swing.
The consolidation efforts included the redistribution of books from the former middle school building and New Richmond Elementary school libraries to their new spaces.
Among those heavily invested in the task was former Monroe Elementary School library aide Sue Greeson. After 18 years as the librarian at Monroe, Mrs. Greeson is overseeing the library at the middle school which serves students in grades six through eight.
Overall, there wasn’t a lot of transformation needed to convert the space to a middle school library, she said. With its ample natural lighting, the library needed limited work. The biggest effort was relocating books.
The New Richmond Elementary School library books were boxed and redistributed to Locust Corner and Monroe Elementary Schools. Some titles appropriate for middle school students remained behind.
The books from the former middle school library were also boxed then shipped to their new home.
The task of unboxing and reshelving the books fell to Greeson and two helpers, coworker Amy Gilliam and volunteer Jeanette Johnson.
“We spent many days in here,” Mrs. Greeson said. “If not for the two of them, I would probably still be unpacking.”
In total, over 150 boxes of books were reshelved. It was a monumental task that was made easier with the good work of others, she said.
Sue Curfman, an instructional aide at the middle school who oversees athletics, was among those involved with the move. She unloaded the shelves of books from the library at the old middle school and organized and boxed them for shipping, Mrs. Greeson said. Along the way she also weeded out some of the old, worn books.
Curfman did such good work, that Mrs. Greeson said the books were nearly shelf-ready when they arrived in their new space.
“I can’t thank her enough. I know she had to work so hard to do that,” she said.
Greeson also expressed her gratitude to the custodians who moved all the boxes.
“They worked so hard over the summer. They brought up all those boxes and had them all stacked in here almost in two stacks of fiction and nonfiction,” she said.
With the task of getting the new library student ready behind her, Mrs. Greeson is now enjoying her new assignment as a middle school librarian.
“I’ve got to tell you, I’ve met some pretty awesome kids. Very polite. Good readers. Great kids. It’s also been really nice to see some of my Monroe kids,” she said. “They were surprised to see me here and many have said, ‘I’m glad you came down here with us.’”