FHS alum sees continued growth at community library

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Tucked between two long-serving brick buildings in New York Mills, sits the town’s public library, and inside works Julie Adams, who has held the position of director for the past 30 years.

When Adams, a class of 1989 graduate of Frazee High School, was hired in November of 1993, she wasn’t planning on making it her life’s work. In fact, she had been working as a substitute teacher in another school district when she saw the job description in the newspaper. A recent graduate of Moorhead State University, where she had earned her degree in Elementary Education, Adams was looking to begin her career as an elementary teacher.

“I had worked in the library there as my work study job,” said Adams. “I had library experience, but applying for the director’s job was kind of a bold move on my part. 

Adams remembers being interviewed by the entire library board, between 7-9 people at the time, and sitting in the old meeting room of the library, which took up about half of the building in 1993.

“I was interviewed by all of them,” said Adams. “I don’t remember for sure if it was nine or seven, I got asked to come into the meeting room and it was a big semicircle. They hired me and I was a city employee after that. It was a part-time position at the time, so I thought I was going to work part-time doing this and part-time substituting, but after a while, it turned out that I was offered a full-time position and I gave up the idea of teaching.”

“Things work out for the best,” added Adams, laughing.

While the previous library directors, Virginia Stemme and Marjorie Hart, had left prior to Adams’ first day, there were still great mentors available to her.

“Barb Baker and Ann Hertzberg were here and they both had been here for a few years ahead of that,” she said. “They were very good about helping me learn the ropes here. Emmy Lou Steblay was the library board president at the time, she was very good about helping me learn the ropes.”

“The library board members were very good, in fact, Howard Legried kind of took it upon himself to be my community mentor in a way,” she continued. “Duane Koehler was also a big part of that. He always takes credit for hiring me,” she laughed.

The library celebrated its 90th anniversary this spring, which means that Adams has overseen a third of the library’s history with it’s many changes over the years.

“When I first started here, the library had no automation system at all,” said Adams. “A few years into being here, we did have to catalogue and barcode every single item and put them in the computer system and then we also had to go through and the process of getting everybody a barcoded library card.

“We didn’t have any computers here in the library at all before that,” she continued. “The internet existed, just barely, but it existed, so we also had to get internet-connected computers.”

Another change throughout the years was when the library was remodeled in January of 2001 and the meeting room was reduced to make room for computers and the children’s section of the library. Some of the programming in these past few years hasn’t always been available due to funding restrictions.

“Another major thing that has happened along the way is that Legacy Funds are now available for us to access,” said Adams. “Before that, we really didn’t have much opportunity for programming, because we just didn’t have any kind of funding source for that. That has really helped us to be able to do programming.”

Though attendance dropped to a 30-year low in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, patronage has been steadily increasing again and was already almost halfway to its pre-pandemic numbers last year. Total circulation through the library has already recovered to the levels of 2018 and 2019 and is on the incline along with the number of materials available.

“Our Friends of the Library have been very supportive in their fundraising efforts,” said Adams. “Changing the book sale to being open year round has been one of the best things we’ve ever done as far as fundraising goes.”

The annual book sale started in 1988 and was held in front of the library until 2001, when they moved the event to the City Hall Ballroom. In 2021, the sale was moved back again to the library, though the annual part was nixed for a year-round sale. The sale has increased in profit exponentially over the years, from $100 in 1988 to $3,441 and rising for 2023. These profits go towards furthering library programming and offerings.

“I enjoy the programs we’re able to offer—going on bus trips, doing Trivia Night, history programs—those kinds of fun activities that we do,” said Adams. “Even partnering with the Cultural Center and Elevate on different programs like Coffee Talk or music programs at the Cultural Center. Those are the kinds of things I really enjoy doing.

“Honestly, I just enjoy my job,” said Adams, noting that there weren’t a lot of challenges at the library. “The feel good kind of events. We had a library anniversary tea a few months ago and that was just a feel good thing in my heart. We’ve gone on bus trips to museums and places like the Cities and Duluth—it’s providing that to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to go to something like that, that is something I love to be able to do.”

Adams said that the library is an important fixture in the community, especially in a town like NY Mills where the volunteer efforts of countless women starting in 1933 made the library what it is today.

“We provide materials for our peoples’ reading entertainment and information—that’s the core of it, but it’s also a community gathering place and a longstanding tradition,” she said. “It’s especially something that our community should be proud of, the ladies who got the library started with their volunteer hours, it was obviously important for the education of children, but also lifelong learning. It’s just a great community tradition.”

She noted that the friendships she’s made over the past three decades are a large highlight throughout her time in the director’s chair.

“The friendships that I’ve acquired over the years,” she said. “My library patrons are awesome and my book club members are hard and fast friends.”

She named her past and present co-workers and library board members, Friends of the Library members and library patrons for their contributions to the Library over the years.

“I have an amazing staff to work with. Shelly and Kendal are wonderful and I really appreciate them. All of these people are very important to the success of the library.”