After 26 Years, Angus Moving on to Next Chapter

It will have been just over 26 years to the date of her hire when Merrimack Library Director Janet Angus makes her last trip through the doors of the library as a town employee.

Angus, 64, a long-time Merrimack resident, has been the director since 1999, but she's been employed at the Merrimack library since Sept. 15, 1986, when she was hired as the head of adult services.

For the last 26 years, she's been at the library day in and out, and Angus said she's not yet sure how she's going to spend all her new-found free time.

She'll probably continue working on one of the two novels she's been working on over the years, she will spend some more time with her daughters and grandchildren and she'll take the opportunity that is presented to her to spend some hours in the daytime relaxing and reading a book in the day time and she will relish not having a schedule to follow.

“I think leaving is a chance for me to do something with the rest of my life,” Angus said.

And for the library, it is a chance to hire someone to replace her who has more energy and new ideas on how to continue bringing the library forward in a time of budget cuts and constant changes in technology and the way people read books and obtain information.

That person, according to library trustee Wendy Thomas, will be Yvette Couser, the current children's librarian.

“I feel like I've done most everything I want do,” Angus said of her time at the library.

And that's quite a bit.

Angus came to the Merrimack library after eight years as a librarian in Raymond and a year in Epping and a year and  a half in the Raymond School District.

In her time at the library, Angus has helped pioneer the way it is used, from helping design the library's very first website, to integrating the use of eReaders for patrons who want to borrow books.

“The library world has been very much in the forefront of (technological) changes, an Merrimack has always been up there,” Angus said. “We were actually one of the first libraries to have Internet available to the public.”

Angus said when she was hired in 1986, the library was in the process of turning their checkout procedures over to an automated system. It took quite a long time to transfer out of the card check out system, she said.

“Self check-out was not something we'd ever heard of,” Angus said.

But last month, the library opened its first self check out stations for patrons to use.

She remembers converting an LP collection to a CD collection, and a VHS collection to an extensive DVD collection. And she's been there to see the library through the biggest change to come to books in year, the eReader.

Even before we were ready for them.

Angus said eReaders have been around before the Nook and Kindle. There were devices the state library had invested in, and Merrimack gave them a shot.

“It was way before the technology was ready,” Angus said.

And for someone who loves books as much as she does, Angus said it's really about loving to read, and eReaders just expand the opportunities in which to get people reading. Angus said as long as people are reading, it doesn't matter how they do so.

“I don't think there is any time in the near future that someone is going to say, 'What's a book?'” Angus said.

And along those same lines, she thinks libraries have a long-standing future, despite ever-growing attitude from some that libraries are becoming more and more obsolete.

Last year the library circulated more than 265,000 items through the doors, which was down only about 1,000 items from the year prior.

Angus said for years the Merrimack Public Library has been an important part of people's daily lives.

“We have a very active Children's room, but that's always been that ways. Angus said children in a library is a heartwarming thing to see, as they have the opportunity to experience literature in a variety of ways.

“Getting children ready to read is very, very important,” Angus said.

And in that vein, she hopes to see the Merrimack library continue to grow and thrive in the years to come.

Moving on is the right decision she said. While it will be weird to not have the structure of her job to organize her day, she said she will not miss “the battle over the budget.”

She won't miss the repeated cuts to the budget or the years-long struggle to find funding to build a larger facility to meet the needs of the community.

The library is so much more than just books, she said. It's a community center in many ways. It's been a refuge for people needing to print a school paper or resume in a pinch when their own printer died. It's a place for people to seek refuge in multiple storms that have knocked out power around town.

During the 2008 ice storm, the library was without power for four days, but as soon as they could, they opened their doors to people who needed Internet access, a place to warm up, to have a cup of coffee and escape the cold and darkness of their house. Since then, the library has been used in other weather events, it's been used as a cooling station on oppressively hot days, and Angus said it would be great if it could meet those needs and more with a newer, larger building that provided those amenities with more comfort.

It's been evident the library was outgrowing its space since the early to mid 90s, Angus said. And it's been a long, slow, arduous fight.

But that's all been on the sidelines of the most important things, she said, like providing excellent customer service and opening new opportunities to people when they can.

The library's evening adult programs began around the same time Angus took over as director in 1999, she said. Those have grown from a program here or there to a robust calendar of author visits, learning opportunities, musical events and more.

And none of what the library provides to the community would be possible without the exceptional staff Angus said she's had the pleasure to lead.

“The staff here is incredible,” Angus said. “They do these things, they come to me with ideas. They make the plans. I can't take credit personally for all of it.”

Angus said the one thing that has truly been her baby all along is the monthly book discussion group that meets 10 times a year, and has since she stepped into the director role. In that time the group has read dozens of books – most hand-picked by Angus – and they've even had opportunities to bring in the authors of some of those books. Angus said it will be hard to give up leading that group.

“I won't miss the harder stuff,” Angus said. “The battle for the budget – that kind of stuff I can do without. I'll miss the people.”

A reception to celebrate Angus' retirement will be held at the library on Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 4-7 p.m. The public is invited to join the staff, the trustees and the friends in wishing Angus well as she moves on into the next chapter of her life.