It was 1993. The Clintons would win the White House. Gas was about $1.10 a gallon and Terri Crawford was hired to become the director of the Watonga public library.
She had recently graduated with a degree in business education with a certification in English. But classroom education wasn’t to be her career. Instead, the job at Watonga came open when Ruby Cooper retired after more than 30 years behind the checkout desk herself.
Crawford said City Manager Karrie Little likes to joke that in 60 years there have only been two library directors.
Those 30 years have seen a lot of other changes, though. The library has transitioned from the old, disc operating system of keeping track of the books in the system to a regular computer system. Fortunately, Crawford said, the library found and used software that did the lion’s share of the work for them, rather than having to do it by hand. The membership rolls were soon similarly updated, going to computer instead of the handwritten, stamped cards. This eventually became the barcode checkout system used today.
There was only one public computer in the library at the time. There are about a dozen today.
Crawford, who raised two daughters while employed at the library, said electronics were probably the biggest change in her tenure.
Books are not only hardback or paperback, regular or large print. They can now be electronic as well. And students are more focused on digital information and entertainment.
“You can download books and entertainment from home,” Crawford said. Library patrons sign up for the electronic usage and then can select from a world at their fingertips. “We can get nearly anything for people,” she finished.
When Crawford talks about her time at the library, it has the feeling of having flown by, but in a peaceful, easy way. Perhaps more like a sweetly flowing river than a frantic bird. She enjoys the pace of a small town and has lived here since she began high school.
“I’ve loved my job and that made it easy to stay. I’ve had wonderful board members and staff who made (the job) easy. Having good people to work with makes a job more enjoyable. And we’ve been so fortunate that the city supports the library like they do.”
Crawford is still coming to terms with the free time retirement will afford. Previously, her volunteer work for various organizations had to be accomplished around her working hours. Now that obstacle has been removed.
Some of that free time will go toward those organizations, such as the Watonga Cheese Festival. Then there is catching up on reading more fiction novels. And upping her quilting game. And traveling with husband Stan, who raises cattle and farms.
But whether she is in the library as a patron, searching for the newest novel or making sure the parade begins on time, there is no doubt that Terri Crawford has left an indelible mark on the City of Watonga, its youth and its library.
Editor’s Note – a come and go retirement reception will be held at the library from 2-4 p.m. Friday.