AG 2002 01 28 (Regular) - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I ! I I I I I I I I I I I I I Remarks on the retirement of Mary Elizabeth "Beth" Young as Manager of the Kannapolis Branch of the Cabarrus County Library. In 1985, Cabarrus County established the a Library department with the first library facility of that department to be located in Kannapolis. On Sept 16, 1985, Mary Elizabeth Young was hired as the first manager of the Charles A. Cannon Memorial Library - Kannapolis Branch. The new library opened for business on January 1, 1986. For nearly 16 years, Beth Young directed the operation of the Kannapolis Library effectively, efficiently and enthusiastically. For the empty shelves of the new library she has carefully crafted a collection of more than 85,000 books and other media,. She has selected and trained a staff of dedicated librarians who have served library customers, checked out more than 1,500,000 books and other items, and provided programs for both children and adults. Upon the opening of the Library, Beth immediately instituted a program that allowed the students of the Kannapolis school System to be bussed to the Library for an introduction to the services it offered. She also sought to insure that not only the students but their families as well would return to the Library to receive a library card and to put it to immediate and frequent use. Beth and her staff created reading and cultural programs to attract parents and children to the library. When business was brisk or the staff was temporarily short-handed, Beth could be found at the Reference Desk helping students locate a resource for a school paper or adults search for information on the Internet. She came to play an active role in the community including serving as a committee member and eventually chairperson of the Annual Kannapolis "Cotton Stock" festival. She ventured out of the library to visit community clubs and organizations in order to communicate the role of the Library. Beth was instrumental in the formation and growth of the Friends of the Kannapolis Library, an organization that has prospered and has continued to provide support to library programs.. Beth is a wonderful and gifted teller of stories who can hold listeners, young and old, spellbound. She became a fixture in the annual Cabarms Quiz Bowl, serving as a moderator at the regional as well as local level. Throughout the years, Beth Young came to personify thequintessential Librarian, welcoming and friendly; intellectually curious and motivated to share that intellect with others; a reader dedicated to encouraging reading; a caring mother hen to her staff; and a tenacious custodian of her facility. As the Library has evolved into a single county department serving all residents she has been a steadfast advisor and strong supporter. For those of us who have worked beside her, it is difficult to imagine Beth Young as anything other than the superb public librarian that she is. However, we have long known that she has other interests. She is a fine musician, a frequent visitor to our state's Outer Banks and a dedicated servant of her church. So it is that Beth retires from the library profession to pursue a higher calling...that of the Lutheran ministry. Among her goals for the future is to be involved with the establishment of the first Lutheran Mission on the Outer Banks. We know that if she pursues this goal with the same determination and skill that she used to manage the Kannapolis Branch of the Cabarrus County Public Library, there is no doubt that she will achieve that dream. Please join us in extending our sincere thanks to Beth Young for the dedicated work she performed for so long and so well on behalf of our Library and for the citizens of Cabarrus County.