In 25 years as a librarian at C.H. Booth Library, Beryl Harrison has served in numerous and valuable capacities. She has seen the library grow — and shrink, as digital options become equally preferred to hard copy volumes. She has worked side by side with a staff that she calls “wonderful.” She has also endeared herself to patrons and fellow staff members, through her dedication to her career.

Library Director Brenda McKinley calls her “one of the kindest people I know.

“She is also very intelligent and tenacious when it comes to being a reference librarian,” Ms McKinley added. “She will always go the extra mile, and beyond, for a patron with a question or problem.”

The staff will honor Ms Harrison’s 25 years of service to the public on Friday, February 20, she said, during its regular staff meeting.

Ms Harrison was hired as the library’s first reference librarian, the day after Martin Luther King Day, in 1990. It was a job she more or less fell into, she said, when her son, Trent, mentioned an ad he had seen in the paper. A stay-at-home mother at that time, and not having worked in the library field since her days as a social sciences librarian at the University of Maryland years before, few people knew that she held a master’s degree in library science. A mention of it to the library cataloger at that time, Maureen Armstrong, got Ms Harrison a swift interview with Janet Woycik, the then library director. Not only was Ms Woycik impressed with her degree and community experience, but she had two other qualities the director liked: “I like chocolate, and I can bake,” laughed Ms Harrison.

Housed in what is now the genealogy room, the reference department in 1990 consisted of only herself, one computer, and a CD-ROM. Even with limited resources, though, Ms Harrison recognized her job as helping the library patrons who visited 25 Main Street. Understanding the needs of people through sensitive questioning, and then directing them to the best source, she gained the confidence of community members young and old.

Within just a few months, the reference position became a full-time job. Brenda McKinley was the next hire in the reference department, Ms Harrison said, and the two women worked at developing the technology end of reference.

“Eventually, our department got its own budget,” she said. By 1995, there was a big push for an addition to the library, with an expanded reference department. “The electronic component of the department was so important to us,” Ms Harrison said, and she and Ms McKinley provided input for the enlarged department. Four computer stations and a greater collection of reference books would be a dream come true, striving to offer patrons what they needed from the exploding world of technology.

A Series Of Challenges

It would be another three years, however, before Ms Harrison settled herself behind the large oak desk on the third floor of the new addition. First would come one of the many upcoming challenges that she has faced with her usual calm demeanor.

In breaking through the old section of the library during the fall of 1996, construction workers discovered an asbestos problem that had to be addressed. The library staff was immediately put out, and the Main Street facility was closed to the public.

“I remember workers carrying out boxes of books onto the front lawn. We’d look in them and say ‘Put that in storage,’ or ‘We’ll take that’ to our temporary quarters,” Ms Harrison said. Temporary quarters was in the former A&P supermarket space on Queen Street, and then to Shelton House at Fairfield Hills.

“We set it up pretty nicely, actually. We even had a little reference department there,” she said.

When the new library opened in 1998, Ms Harrison found herself with two titles: she was head of reference, and she was also assistant director to Ms Woycik.

Changes were happening in libraries across the nation, and C.H. Booth was no exception. As once the reference book collection had been increased to meet the needs of the community, it was clear that the best service to patrons was heading in the direction of technology.

As the 20th Century turned to the 21st Century, the focus of a reference librarian veered toward educating and helping people use the new technology to find the information needed. E-books and downloadables now are equally as popular with library patrons as are paper books, she said.

Even while teaching herself about computer use, from the earliest iteration Ms Harrison has felt it her duty to ease others’ fears of using new technology, particularly those of the older library users. Keeping current with technology is a challenge, but it is one that Ms Harrison feels the library is committed to taking on.

The position of reference librarian is appealing to some, said Ms Harrison, because they like facts. For her, it is about the people. The library patrons are always foremost in Ms Harrison’s mind. She is aware that people arrive at the reference department, especially, seeking information for what could be a very personal issue.

“When people come to the desk, you never know what is going on in their lives,” she said. She has found that approaching patrons with a friendly manner makes it easier to assist. It is an approach she always shares with new hires to the reference department, and one that seems to work.

“Like any community, we have our characters that come in. But we take everyone seriously and welcome them. I think everyone [who comes into the library] feels comfortable. Being here has increased my empathy toward others, definitely,” she said.

A longtime associate is Andrea Zimmermann, who worked with Ms Harrison in the reference department until 2013. She took Ms Harrison’s advice to heart.

“[Beryl Harrison’s] most memorable contributions would include her skilled leadership and great equanimity, her high level of professionalism, and her ability to quickly grasp a situation or patron need and address it in a thoughtful and thorough manner,” said Ms Zimmermann, praising her former colleague. “Beryl has a good sense of humor and is a natural problem solver. Beyond her ability to deliver excellent library service to the community, Beryl will always be known for her grace, her constancy, and incredible kindnesses — be it a tomato plant or just the right word of condolence — delivered without bias to anyone who approaches the reference desk.

“Because of her vast knowledge of the institution and the people it has served, Beryl is the last link in that rich collective memory of our library community. For nearly two decades,” she said, “she has been a wonderful mentor, role-model, and friend to me.”

Providing Refuge And Comfort

Providing comfort to patrons has become a characteristic of the C.H. Booth Library, Ms Harrison said, particularly since a series of events that tested the community, beginning in 2011.

A tropical storm in August of that year, followed by a freak autumn snowstorm, left residents without power for days. Once power was restored to the center of town, a priority, the library reached out to help people.

“It was a place of reconnection. We had charging stations set up, we had free wi-fi, and I think we even brought people coffee. It was a place to stay warm and a place with light,” she said. As always, she knew she could count on the staff to support the efforts that went beyond the day-to-day work schedule.

Those efforts were repeated once again when Hurricane Sandy swept through town in late October 2012. Only the month before, Ms Harrison had been named assistant director, with Ms Woycik nearing retirement. It is a position she held periodically until Ms McKinley was named director in July 2014. Becoming director was never her goal, said Ms Harrison, but she was happy to help as needed.

On December 14, 2012, and the months that followed, Ms Harrison worked to help staff and patrons forge through the horror of the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Almost immediately, she said, the library opened its doors to special programs and the many support groups that were suddenly forming.

“It was chaotic, that first week, as it was all over town. People began to think of the library as a place of refuge. Lana [Bennison, children’s librarian] and Brenda started the Books Heal Hearts program, which is still functioning. We took whatever came to us and dealt with it, expanding on our usual warm welcome to the library,” she recalled.

She called on her own reserves for a calm presence with staff, and with anyone who came in.

“If you keep busy, you keep moving forward. That’s how I usually approach things. You know your job and you keep doing your job,” she said.

Even the intrusive national media was welcomed into the library to do research. She kept a close eye on resources, such as the school yearbooks, however.

“I wanted to make sure they did not disappear,” she said.

The town’s library continued to be a source of comfort and gathering in 2013, as Newtown struggled with the many reminders of the tragedy of 12/14.

Finding balance was difficult when the installation of a new director in July 2013 created a great amount of disruption for the staff, she said. She found herself suddenly named assistant director and head of circulation; a well-respected reference librarian left her position; and trying to “keep moving forward” was becoming more of a challenge. The new director was not a good fit, she said, and when he departed 12 weeks later, she once again found herself in the position of acting director.

What made Ms Harrison’s job easier as the Board of Directors sought to find a permanent director, she said, was her ability to rely on the staff to know their jobs and carry them out.

One Step At A Time

Then came the flood of January 2014, when pipes froze and burst, damaging a great part of the 1990s addition, destroying hardware, and shutting down the library for two months. Present when the ceiling above the technology area crumbled and released a deluge of water that day, Ms Harrison quickly assessed the situation and once more applied her practical sense to making things right.

“You just take things like this one step at a time,” she said. She is particularly grateful to Board of Directors President Bob Geckle for his direction during those days of reconstruction and decisionmaking.

“We did what we needed to do and dealt with it. All of our department heads came in to help. My job was to just keep everyone moving and on task,” Ms Harrison said.

In between the tribulations, most of her 25 years have been filled with gratifying hours of work, she said. Currently, she divides her time between the reference department and the administration of building issues. She oversees the final verifications and deposits to the bank each day, as well, and is always glad to provide backup for the circulation desk. It is a full 40-hour week, with nearly every hour one she enjoys, Ms Harrison said.

It is the people of the community and the staff at C.H. Booth Library that have her looking forward to coming to work every day — so much so, that she recalls cross-country skiing down her snowbound driveway after the February 2013 storm, in order to get a ride to work from her son.

“I brought my skis into the library, and everyone thought I had skied all the way in to work,” she chuckled.

It is an interesting and challenging career, and Ms Harrison loves that every day is different. What has not changed for her over the past two and a half decades, though, is her devotion to the library patrons. Always, she said, it is in helping others that she finds the most satisfaction.

Playing with her three border collies (and sometimes an additional two that belong to her son and his family), visiting with her grandchildren, and weeding her garden quickly fill the other hours of her week, she said.

“I feel very lucky to have had her as a mentor all these years,” Ms McKinley added. “She is unflappable and positive, two traits which were critical in seeing us through the flood last year. She is a big reason,” she said, “why so many people love our library.”

And, added Ms McKinley, Wednesday, February 18, after another burst pipe had spewed water throughout the Children's Department, "I will definitely be depending on her expertise again."

Seated recently in front of a stack of books at the library, and surrounded by familiar antique furnishings and museum items, Ms Harrison exuded serenity.

“I’m not planning to go anywhere,” she said. “I just smile, ask people their problems, and try to resolve it. Everyone goes away happy, and then I’m happy.”