[Michlib-l] At long last, retirement

[Doug Koschik]

Hello everyone,

As was the case with so many of you, one of my favorite places as a child
was the public library--in my case, specifically, the Mark Twain Branch of
the Detroit Public Libraries--which, unfortunately, no longer exists. In
1957, the new Chandler Park Branch, located much closer to my house,
opened, and I was faced with a dilemma: Do I attend the grand opening of
the branch or stay home and watch the premiere of the television series
Blondie? I chose to go to the library.

In 1966, I began working at the same branch as a page. I'm not sure if it
was because I had reached the ripe old age of 14 or only because I was a
library employee, but I was delighted to be permitted, finally, to check
out items from the Adult section of the library. (Previously, I had had to
read Adult items in the building itself. The only items juveniles could
check out were from the juvenile section. And the juvenile section
contained only quality literature. Trash like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew
was not allowed.) As a special bonus, I even had access to the really Adult
items housed behind the Circulation Desk. I truly felt like the "sir" that
one kid, amazingly, called me.

$1.25 an hour was a decent wage back then, but inflation was rearing its
ugly head, and eventually I received a raise to $1.75.

I had a good run at Chandler Park, but after a couple of years, I left
after a policy dispute with the new branch manager. A child needed to look
up the definition of a German word for a school assignment, and the
reference librarian, who didn't know how to use a German dictionary, was
struggling. I helped out, and the child got his definition. The manager
reprimanded me, however, and told me that, besides shelving books, the only
things a page was allowed to do was tell patrons the time of day and point
the way to a librarian. I admit this wasn't the last time I've disagreed
with a library policy.

Nevertheless, I maintained a fond spot in my heart for libraries and
eventually received an M.L.S. from the University of Michigan. My first
full-time professional position was at Delta College, near Bay City. I
truly enjoyed that job, but still, I recall that sometime around my second
week there, I started thinking, "Hmmm ... retirement ... how does that work
precisely? It doesn't sound like such a bad thing."

Well, 46 years later, I've decided to try it out. After 30 years at the
Baldwin Public Library, during ten of which I've been Director, I've
decided to hang up my boots. My last day of work will be January 15, 2021.
The Baldwin Public Library will conduct a search for my replacement, with
the aim of having that person in place by January. The posting will be
issued shortly.

I have five more months to go, and I'm sure that I'll be seeing a number of
you during that period, but I do want to take the time now to thank so many
of you for the support and guidance you've provided me over the course of
my career.

Best wishes,

Doug

-- 
Doug Koschik
Director
Baldwin Public Library
300 W. Merrill St.
Birmingham, MI  48009
E-mail: doug.koschik at baldwinlib.org
Telephone:  248-554-4681
Fax:  248-647-6393
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