The staff at the Paris Public Library will host a “Next Adventure Social” from 2 – 4 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22, to recognize the upcoming retirement of two long-term library staff members. The public is welcome, and the event will be held in the library’s Rhodes Gallery at 326 S. Main St.
The honorees, Library Supervisor Judy Vickers and Library Technician Louise Webb, both began their careers in the 1980s. Webb has served at the Paris Public Library since 1983 and Vickers since 1987. For more than 43 and 39 years, respectively, Webb and Vickers have assisted library patrons through many changes and a pandemic during their service.
Both retirees share that they will greatly miss interacting with the “wonderful patrons” who come into the library every day. “I started at the Paris Public Library the first day we moved into the new building in July of 1987,” said Vickers. “I’ve seen a lot of changes; we had a card catalog and no computers when I started.”
“During my career, I’ve served under several Library Directors and have experienced great changes in the library,” said Webb. “I am deeply grateful to grow and serve the public for all these years and will look back on my time at the library with pride and fond memories.”
The “Next Adventure Social” is a come-and-go reception with cake and refreshments. “It will be tremendously different around the library without Judy and Louise here,” Library Director Connie Lawman said. “For many citizens, they are the most recognized faces at the library. We will miss seeing them each day, but the other staff members and I wish them well in their next adventures and hope the community will join us during the reception.”
