Library director closes book on career

CAREY — Thousands of books have passed through Laura Toland's hands as an employee of the Dorcas Carey Public Library over the past 38 years. Now she's looking forward to reading many of them. Toland is retiring after a career that has included stints as an assistant librarian, fiscal officer and, for the past decade, director. "It doesn't seem possible it's been that long. It went fast," she said. But she's already making plans for her retirement, which starts June 1. She'll spend more time with family and has day trips in the works with her sisters. She'll also have more time for her outside interests like gardening, canning and mowing the yard. "I told my husband, first I'm just going to breathe," she laughed. The youngest of six children, Toland attended Our Lady of Consolation School for eight years and then transferred to Mohawk High School where she graduated in 1980. Toland said she's always loved books and the library. As a youngster, her parents would drop her off to pick out books while they ran errands nearby. "Little did I know that when I spent a lot of time here that when I'd got older I'd really be spending a lot of time here," she said. As time went on, she married Tom Toland, and together they started a family. "Just coming up here, reading and bringing my babies, we'd come up here and get the books. And one day someone said something to me, there's going to be an opening up here. That's just how it all started," she said. It was a small, part-time job, she said, but it was enough to get her out of the house with adults for a while. Toland was as assistant librarian for four years then was named fiscal officer, a position she held 20 years. She took over as director from Linda Gatchell, who retired in 2014. Toland has been through three remodeling jobs on the 1906 building — one of Ohio's original Carnegie libraries. Things have changed, she said. The old card catalogs have gone the way of computers and technology and more paperwork. But there have also been good things, like the people, she said. "And I'm really going to miss them," said Toland. "I've had a lot of good friends and memories, and the staff." Toland said it's the children who have always tugged at her heart. "That is the one thing that has actually affected me the most, I think, because I used to read a lot of story times. And when you see those kids that you held on your lap and bring their children, you think, I must have done OK if they're coming back," she said. Another time, the library was going through budget cuts. "And we had to let some people off and we were asking people to write to their officials and say, 'Don't close our libraries down,' 'Keep our funding going,'" she recalled. A little girl came up to the desk and asked if she could write a letter. "And I said that would be wonderful. She said, 'What am I going to do if my library isn't here anymore?' And that is probably one of the things that touched me the most," Toland said. She said patrons have become like family, and COVID was hard on everybody with the library being closed six to eight weeks. "The phone calls I received were just amazing. I don't think people really realized how much they used the library until it was closed," she said. Later, there was a lot of discussion about giving out COVID tests and whether it would put the staff at risk. "And I just felt that we needed to do that. It's been a very positive and I think the public really appreciated that," she said. Toland remembers once when the library ran out of tests. "People kept asking for them. I swear, they saw the UPS truck pull in because boom, I mean for two or three hours, we gave out about 700 and some COVID tests. We just had a line going. But it makes you feel good that you could do that for the community," she said. They library has Narcan kits available now as well. And where libraries used to be quiet, Toland said there's now people talking and constant activity. "I like the noise. I like when people are using it. We've turned into a community center," she said. It's a safe haven for children who flock to the cooking classes and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs. For adults, there's Zen coloring, dominos and a monthly crafting class. About 23,000 people visited the library last year. Meanwhile, 400-500 children participate in the Summer Reading Program. "I couldn't do it without the staff. If you don't have staff, you don't have programming," said Toland. "And my board, I can't say enough about my board of trustees. They've always stood behind whatever and always wanted to try new things." The community has also supported the library, she said. "We've passed levies upon levies," said Toland. "We get (money from) the Public Library Fund, but that's not enough. So thank heavens they passed those levies or we wouldn't be able to offer what we have." As much as she's enjoyed it, Toland said she's happy to let someone else take over the reins. The new director will be Mandy Reinhart, who most recently was an assistant librarian and IT specialist. "I'm just ready to enjoy the simple things," said Toland. An open house for her will be held from 2-4 p.m. June 2 at the library.