New chapters

B y happenstance, two women who have provided the leadership to make their libraries vital components of their respective communities have decided at the same time to close a major chapter in the books of their lives and enter retirement.

It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the contributions of Groton Public Library Director Betty Anne Reiter and her cross-Thames River counterpart, Suzanne Maryeski, executive director of the Public Library of New London.

Both women recently announced their intentions to retire next month.

Reiter, 64, has worked 37 years at the Groton library. Starting part-time weekends, Reiter moved through the ranks and extended her training, rising to library director in 2008.

Maryeski, 70, took a different path but arrived in New London as the director just one year after Reiter began her director stint in Groton. From Waterford, Maryeski returned to the area to take on the challenge of directing an urban-centered library. She previously had worked in the affluent suburban towns of Madison and Farmington.

Both women have been instrumental in leading their libraries through a period of change and fiscal challenges. With the emergence of the internet and the commonness of smartphones and tablets, libraries no longer serve the role of the place one had to go to research background on a subject.

But directors such as Reiter and Maryeski have assured their libraries remained important assets nonetheless, becoming, in Reiter’s words, “community center(s).”

These libraries, and others like them, provide access to computers for those without that critical 21st century tool. They provide assistance in job searches, activities for children and young adults, group meeting places, English language programs, and the list goes on.

Maryeski, hired to preside over a library she found underfunded, has worked with city officials to gradually better fund the library, which is held in a private trust that accounts for only about 10 percent of its revenue. The $843,440 the New London library received this year provides for three professionally trained librarians among a staff of nine full-time employees.

In Groton, which enjoys a substantial commercial and industrial tax base, Reiter has had to manage her traditionally well-funded library through a series of budget cuts. Colleagues point to her work on accessing grants as one reason the Groton library maintains a high level of service, including providing a teen section.

Our communities have been fortunate to benefit from their service.