One thing will become abundantly clear after I read the list of retirees, and that is that these individuals have dedicated multiple decades of service to Vermont public libraries,” said Pamela Cartier, co-chair of the Vermont Library Association Scholarship and Awards Committee. Cartier, who is coordinator of the Community Legal Information Center (CLIC) at the Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Julien and Virginia Cornell Library, recognized Vermont Library Association members who retired in the last year or are soon retiring. “Each one is tremendously deserving of recognition for their commitment both to librarianship and their libraries,” she said.
The retirees, recognized in alphabetic order during the April 3 Vermont Library Conference, are:
Rebecca Goldberg, who retired in 2022 after 40 years as youth services librarian at Fletcher Free Library in Burlington.
Lesley Markey, who retired from Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, after serving as its technical services librarian — and super cataloger, per library director, Starr LaTronica — for 36 years.
Debbie Roederer, assistant director at Dorothy Alling Memorial Library in Williston, who retires in April 2023 after 36 years of service. “Roederer also ran the VOKAL cataloguing group, and, as many will attest, she was a generous mentor who freely shared her knowledge,” Cartier said. (Pictured above: Debbie (L) receiving a retirement gift from Mary Danko, co-chair of VLA’s Scholarship and Awards Committee.)
Lisa Sammet, who recently retired after 22 years as director of Jeudevine Memorial Library in Hardwick. “Lisa was successful at transforming this once small, underutilized library, into a vital part of the Hardwick community and surrounding towns,” said Marilyn McDowell, Jeudevine’s youth services librarian.
Marita Schine who retired after 12 years as the children’s service librarian at Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol.
Cindy Weber, who is retiring after almost 11 years as director of Stowe Free Library. A career librarian, she also worked at Dorothy Alling Memorial Library for 10.5 years, at NECI, and at the Albany College of Pharmaceutical and Health Services.
“We wish all our librarians the best and happiest of retirements,” Cartier said.