End of an era

Friday will mark the end of an era in Wellman.

Carol Wilkins, who has been at the Wellman-Scofield Public Library for 11 years — the past seven years as the full-time director — is retiring.

“This has been the best job I’ve ever had,” Wilkins said. “I think for a while I’m going to feel like I’m on vacation, because I haven’t really taken a vacation in years.

“I never thought I would get old enough to retire. I don’t know when that happened.”

Wellman Mayor Ryan Miller praised Wilkins’ service to the community.

“Carol has done a wonderful job with our library,” Miller said. “Carol has been an invaluable asset to the city for years of service and what she has done for the library and the residents of Wellman. She will certainly be missed.”

Wilkins said that she always wanted the library to be a welcoming place.

“We just want to be part of the community that people can enjoy,” she said. “They can come here, and there’s something for the kids to do.

“Sometimes, I associate it with a beauty shop. People come in and want to visit. I haven’t had to tell anybody to quiet down for a long time. It’s a place to come where people can feel comfortable.”

Over the years, Wilkins added more than 8,000 new books to the library. She added other items of interest, like games, puzzles, cake pans and STEM kits, which all have proved to be popular with library patrons.

“Puzzles have been going out like crazy, especially during the winter,” she said. “Why buy it when you can borrow it? I think they call it a library of things.”

She takes pride in the increased programming at the library during her tenure.

When she started at the library, the summer reading program was four weeks, an hour each week.

That has increased to six weeks and now includes story times, activities and performers.

“We had a movie license that was never used, so we started showing movies,” she said.

Wilkins began going to conferences to get ideas from what other libraries are doing.

“When I would hear what other libraries were doing, I would say, ‘I can’t do that. I don’t have the money. My budget is too small,’” she said. “Over and over, they would say, ‘Yes you can do those things. You just have to adjust what you’re doing to fit your budget.’”

Those ideas resulted in events like the annual Noon Year’s Eve party and pumpkin decorating.

“One time, we did Snowed in at the Library,” she said. “I made 75 grilled cheese sandwiches that day.”

Wilkins credits the library’s Board of Trustees and the city for supporting her ideas.

“The board always knew when I had gone to a conference, because I’d come back excited with all kinds of crazy ideas,” she said. “I’ve had a great board of trustees. The city has helped me immensely.

“When I’ve had crazy ideas, they’ve always supported me.”

Miller praised Wilkins for her work on increasing the programming at the library.

“She has been innovative with the programs offered at the library and has greatly increased the number of programs offered and the number of kids involved,” Miller said.

Wilkins said that her primary focus has always been on the children.

“I’m always looking at the kids’ side,” she said. “I like to read, and I want to make it fun for them.”

She said she will miss kids coming into the library and excitedly greeting her with, “Miss Carol! Miss Carol!”

“I’m going to miss the kids,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of kids grow up.”

The past year dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has been exceptionally challenging.

“During the shutdown last year for COVID, Carol went out of her way to make sure people had access to books from the library and arranged drive-up service for patrons,” Miller said.

It halted the fundraising effort for the library’s renovation and expansion project.

“Unfortunately last year, I could not ask anyone for money to help with the renovation and expansion of the library,” Wilkins said. “I just thought that would be in poor taste with people out of work. Everything kind of came to a standstill.”

Although seeing the project come to fruition will not happen on her watch, Wilkins hopes the library will continue to raise its profile in the community.

“You’d be surprised how many people still don’t know there’s a library in Wellman,” she said. “I think it’s important for the library to reach out and let people know we’re here for the whole community.

“It’s just a matter of doing things to get people interested in the library.”