Lois Jones and Mary Golden Hughes

00:02 My name is Lois Jones. I am 74 years old. Today is June, Thursday, June 24th, 2021. We are in Harrisonburg, Virginia. My conversation partner is Mary golden Hughes, and we are co-workers at Massanutten Regional Library, and my name is Mary, golden Hughes. I'm 54 years, old. Today, is Thursday, June, 24th of 2021. I mean, Harrisonburg, Virginia. And I'm talking today with Lois Jones who is my coworker. Actually my boss and my greatest friends.

00:46 My name is Lois Jones and I'm Library director of Massanutten Regional Library. I began 33 years ago as a part-time reference librarian, and worked my way up through the ranks and have been the director for the past 11 years, and she started working with you. I guess about 10 years ago. And now, I'm back at the director of advancement here for the library. And I'm really excited to be back and encouraging people to read and use our services. I feel like libraries are such a Vibrant Table of the community and by far, the most favorite place. I have ever worked in my car. I'm thinking right now. You just said you, you've been here for 33 years. That's my cousin. What a legacy tell us about that. Until like why you've loved working for libraries for so long and maybe what in particular is so special about this library has major career. So meaningful. I love our libraries thing. The warm welcome.

01:46 And anchor it is called many times where our mission and vision point to serving everyone equally and where everyone comes to with a sense of belonging and with an awareness of helpful staff members who were willing to connect them with the resources to meet their needs. That is certainly what I have seen. You do it my years of working here with you there been so many great projects that we've been able to be part of the community. And it really reminds me of a very special project Grant opportunity from the National Endowment for the Arts and encourages communities to unite for the joy of reading. And to read selected classic literature together. It has many goals including getting into people's hands particularly underserved communities, and exposing people to literature as an art form and how it relates to other art forms. And if it brings reluctant readers are laps readers,

02:46 Professor in the United Community and we got to do all those things together and it was The Time Of Our Lives. You were aware of the opportunity. I think it's how I heard about it and you can force me to apply and I was kind of intimidated because it was the national bakeries in a row and brings thousands and thousands of people to read with us and to enjoy the love of reading. And we did those for To Kill a Mockingbird. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe and then the Great Gatsby and we reached about I guess a hundred fifty thousand people building excitement in advance, doing advertising with Media Partners, giving a thousands of thousands of free copies of all those books and all of our branch locations and kind of month-long special event for special events for each big.

03:46 And we even printed up little buttons, you remember what size are you all? Unity response? I think was just absolutely heartwarming on that. Very first day. Folks were lined up around the block up our Central Branch downtown and all of our branches, waiting for the doors to open so they could get their hands on their free copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Everybody was just super excited and you would have thought that books for the hottest ticket in town.

04:22 Well, Mary's list of To Kill a Mockingbird whose main character Atticus Finch was an attorney. So it seemed only natural that I should be held on the courthouse. Lawn as it turns out in Harrisonburg Court, Square is the site of many community events as Mary and I look stupid in Lapel buttons in hand heading toward the courthouse. We knew that we had made the right choice and terms of a location for this the event. The opening. It was really a librarian's dream. Hundreds of people of all Races socio-economic groups, relaxing on the lawn eating free barbecue from the nearby food truck, many and family, groupings friends getting together. People stretched out on the lawn just reading their books and the Beautiful October sunshine and even our bookmobile driver Doug was

05:22 Blues music on his guitar. Everyone, of course, waiting for the celebrity readers to rise, to the podium, local media personalities, teachers, and professors state and local government officials to join us and do public readings for the project and to be at our kickoff advance. And they gladly oblige, we work with them in advance to make sure that we selected meaningful but not too controversial because sometimes there's some interesting things in books and then search but we didn't want them to feel uncomfortable. So he works a lot of background work to make sure that they felt comfortable and then when the crowd was there with them, they were following along in the book, reading along with the celebrity reading readers. And it just was so exciting to see how the celebrity readers brought Harper made powerful words alive and people were just enjoying reading along with them.

06:22 Was a ceiling was one of a complete Southern Community with ads. This bench, who would have loved his daughter to be a part of this community, where everybody knows, everybody else including their foibles and small-town gossip. And so in honor of Atticus Finch. I even donned a seersucker suit, or is one of my sweet little friends called, as I fear soccer, smooth. And this day, I can't hear the word seersucker without hearing, seersucker. Thanks to you. That's just one of the many things I love about working with you certainly know how to have fun. And we also, I would enjoy showing people through ways, to think, about the library. We're not the stereotypical hush-hush, facts of days, gone by that. You might

07:22 But we are a Vibrant Community Center how and when they need them and we connect with people and we're honored to do it and we love doing. Honor is a great word and it just makes my heart soar to think of how many thousands of people we had across our reason reading along with us and enjoying the librarian and join Community together. Some of the folks hadn't read a book in years, but we help those reluctant readers. They plugged into classic literature in ways. They never imagined. We tried him, very those ways to make them approachable. So they could learn in a variety of learning styles. Remember, we had public book readings and book talks and panel discussions, but then we create a beautiful Mosaic wall and modern dance piece, so that people could experience the theme in Harper, Lee's work through dance.

08:22 The really the Arts were all woven into the others that no matter your reading ability or interest. There was something for everyone in the degree. Her messages were alive and well, and evident in our community and truly, as we said, in our button, we were all on the same page and they were on the same page as I struggle with. But you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, relates right back to what libraries do everyday, and why it's such a privilege to work in them to meet people where they are considered their points of view at the health them, to ultimately both of them. And so one of the most poignant stories that I ripped out, my career here was my son just the last couple of years when I was ready to get on the elevator, to go downstairs and there was a gentleman standing at the elevator and as I usually do I I said where you able to find everything you needed today?

09:22 I'm so he just happened with a rather sad. Look on his face, but he said, well, not really. He said that. So what were you looking for it? He said, well, I was looking for books on suicide and I thought well, that's strange because I know we have plenty of material and it's not books about suicide. He said I want to know how to do it for us. I would have fallen apart and please don't do this Final Act and end light and there's nothing that is so bad that you know, you would have to consider this an act and I said, please tell me something to eat.

10:22 To do just talk to me for a little while to look at things. You might like to read a favor of you. Please come back to the library tomorrow and ask for me. My name is Lois just come in and ask for me and I will come downstairs immediately and provide for you. Some of the things that you've told me, you would like to see or read. And so I asked, I will be heartbroken. If you do not come back tomorrow and then I end up reading in the paper are hearing on the radio, or on the TV, about some horrible situation and I seriously will be heartbroken. So I came back to work the next day, wondering, if he would come back or not, whether I would ever see him and so sure enough after I've been at work, just maybe a couple of hours. I had a phone call that someone was asking for me at the front desk. And so I

11:21 At that point, didn't even know for sure. Who it was. But I went downstairs. I must just so happy to see this man that I had only met the day before. And we talked, I gave him at Ariel's and then ask him to please come back in a once he was there to, please come back the next day and asked for me. And I would be there to see him and so that went on for three days. And then I felt much better about the way I was leaving him at that point. I felt like he maybe had gotten a different list and I just felt better so much better about that. Whole ordeal that at first. Was I, I couldn't even stand to think about what the possibility of something like that. When you're studying to be a library for sure. You learned so much about the library.

12:21 There's in deep relationships and and ones like this that you didn't expect. It just popped up. That's true. I mean there were so many stories will never forget as long as I live and it's so relates to what you said that Atticus Finch said that you never really know someone or understand them into consider things from there to give you never would have known what this person was going through your head. You not reached out to them, and then Community to him and invited him. The, what it wasn't honor that must have been such a, such a powerful experience. I feel it sitting with you here today. Yeah. We're so lucky that we could to meet people where they are and consider their points of view and provide services and resources to improve their lives. It's incredible.

13:14 So thinking about all that would you do another big ring? Again? She has a chance and I Tell Tale Heart enjoyed chatting with you today with 33 years. We could probably fill out the story chords database with me now, because this place is not going to the same and I had ever hoped.