Dear Friends,
Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to two of our longtime employees here at the library this month. Our Public Services Librarian, Val Fisher has decided to retire and spend more time with her family and our Technical Services Assistant, Leslie Schlemmer will be moving to an exciting new full-time position. Both of them have been cherished members of our library family for many years so they will be greatly missed.
Val began her career at the New Milford Public Library 25 years ago as the Young Adult Librarian and eventually took on the job of Public Services Librarian when her predecessor, Sally Tornow became the Library Director in 2016. Ever since then, Val has been meeting our patrons every day, both in her role as the head of the circulation desk and as the coordinator of adult programming. Val is responsible for all of the library events that take place for adults, from book clubs to barn quilts. If you have checked out a book or attended a library program, you probably know her.
While Leslie’s job is not often public facing, she has been a key member of our staff for 22 years and is also well-known for her community involvement. Leslie is the one who makes sure all of the books, videos, and other materials are ordered and make it to the floor and into the catalog so that you can check them out. She is also often the voice on the phone if you have called to ask questions about downloading books and videos. Leslie has taken a job at Bibliomation, our library consortium, so we will still have the chance to work with her on occasion.
Both Val and Leslie have been instrumental in maintaining our services through the last year and a half while the building was closed due to Covid and construction. We couldn’t have done it without them. Please join me in wishing them both the best of luck in their new endeavors.
