Library staff has diverse skills to serve needs

“Why didn’t you tell me you hired my principal?” asked library Teen Advisory Board member Curtis Galloway.

Galloway was surprised to see Jamie Neal, retired Benton Middle School principal, working at the circulation desk of Benton Public Library.

Neal is one of a few new staff members, including Kim Newton and Lynette Leffler, that recently came on board at the library.

“We had a little turnover at the end of the year,” said library director Erin Steinsultz. “We also had an employee traveling and one on medical leave. It became apparent that some new hires were necessary.”

The library is open seven days a week, 356 days a year. The library closes only nine days a year, on major holidays. Covering all the service hours can be a big task.

“Making sure we have ample coverage to keep up with the public’s demand is very important,” said Steinsultz. “We keep statistics on library usage, and around 61,000 people pass through the door each year. We have to be ready to provide them with whatever they need from popular reading to computer assistance to any variety of research questions.”
Library staffers, new and veteran, bring a wide range of skills to their jobs.

“There is the stereotype of the stodgy older woman librarian, and I don’t think any of us fit that,” said Steinsultz. “We all have such varied tastes in reading material or movies or hobbies that we bring something unique to the library. We have different backgrounds as well that help create our well-rounded staff.”

Steinsultz has worked as the director of Benton Public Library for five years. Steinsultz previously worked at Harrisburg District Library and the Melba Patton Library at Southeastern Illinois College. She volunteered in the library starting in grade school and continued through college in various volunteer and paid positions.

“For some reason, though, I thought of becoming an accountant. I found I didn’t enjoy that, so I have a degree in Marketing. I enjoyed that field of study, but many marketing jobs include sales and that’s just not for me. I use many of the skills of that degree in the library, and the skills I learned on the jobs I held previously,” said Steinsultz.
In December, Steinsultz completed a master’s degree in Information Science and Learning Technology with a focus in Library Science.

“This is something I have wanted to do for years, but it wasn’t possible until now,” said Steinsultz. “It was not easy to work full-time and finish the degree. The staff was very supportive.”
The library’s staff brings multiple degrees and years of work experience to their work at the library.

“Paula Lainfiesta is a retired nurse and nursing instructor from Rend Lake College. She has many years of classroom experience, as well as hospital experience. She is very organized and disciplined in her approach to library tasks,” said Steinsultz.

“Paula is over our Homebound Delivery program. She selects materials for patrons who can’t make it to the library, usually for medical reasons. She also works with volunteers for the pickup and delivery of the materials,” said Steinsultz.

“We had a hard time filling her shoes while she was out on medical leave. Susan stepped up and has done a great job. Paula just made it look too easy!”

The staff includes many retirees or others supplementing their income with a few hours of work.

“I am the only full-time library employee,” said Steinsultz. “Most of the employees just work a couple days a week, just a few hours. They help us cover all our open hours. Everyone has their specialty and they are all great to have on board.”
Library staff also includes employees with backgrounds in social work, education, music, banking, marketing, accounting, law, and more.

“I always appreciate the skills the staff members bring,” said Steinsultz. “Everyone is important to accomplishing our daily tasks, and meeting the needs of those who come to the library.”

“Most technological questions are referred to Joe DeVillez. Mary Eubanks and Ruth Montgomery work with our genealogical collection. Susan Stickel and Norma Minor work with our children’s programming,” said Steinsultz. “Cyndi Garrett is amazing at shelving and keeping things neat in just the few hours she works each week as our high school intern.”

Some library staff members have special areas of the library collection they maintain.
Robbie Steckenrider works with the Large Print collection to add new items, make sure the library has the most requested large print titles, and complete series by requested authors. Large Print books also receive special labeling and require special attention.

Barbara Schmidt maintains the library’s magazines, which includes titles for children, teens, and adults. The library subscribes to over fifty magazines, some that arrive each week. Making sure all magazines are arriving, being checked out and returned, and shelved in the right place, takes patience and organization.

Lisa Stearns helps to make sure the non-fiction collection is up-to-date and circulating. She also is very important to making sure the all the library’s books are in order on the shelf.

“That sounds easy, but it is not at all easy. Shelf-reading is a very daunting task. We have around 48,000 items in the library, about 5,000 of which go out and come back every month. We have to be able to find them at a moment’s notice. Everyone shelf-reads some, but Lisa takes a special interest and that is very important,” said Steinsultz.

The library tries to offer something for everyone in its community, including convenient hours, a readily available computer lab, and a large collection including books, movies and more. The library’s staff works together to provide these many services. Their diverse backgrounds and interests in the collection help provide the best possible staff for the library users.