MANSFIELD — Joseph Palmer is nearing the end of a long and memorable career with the Richland Mansfield Public Library, but he vividly remembers the beginning of it.
He was appointed Library Director in 1991 — amid a financial crunch. Palmer, who will retire on July 7, came aboard just after the completion of new buildings. Then Gov. George Voinovich froze funds.
“We had $75 in the bank,” Palmer recalled. “I had to tell people after two weeks to stop spending money on everything — we couldn’t spend money on a thing.
“Nobody cut the budget. I kept looking at it and said, something’s wrong. Beginning in November, I said, ‘Stop spending anything.’ ”
Later he was told the library would not have made its payroll if he had not frozen spending. Since then, the library has passed a series of levis to remain afloat.
Still, Palmer may have accomplished more in his nearly 25-year tenure with community involvement.
In 2004 he received the Ohio Council Hall of Fame award, the highest award given in Ohio for library work. He has been president of Ohio Library Council and served on its government relations committee over the past 20 years — making him the longest standing member.
Two projects are most dear to him: the black history celebration and a literacy initiative.
“One of the things I love most is the black history celebration,” he said. “It has helped us with the community and diversity. And we’ve made some good friends and supports from the African-American community.
“I also started a literacy project, where the person in charge really took off. We had 20 people at a time with tutors.”
Palmer said the program lasted nearly two decades before interested students needed more help than the tutors could provide.
“It consisted of teaching anyone over 18-years-old to read. People wouldn’t expect, but most of the people in the program had high school diplomas but still couldn’t read,” Palmer said. “That went on for a very long time. We realized (towards the end) the people we were getting we could not help because they had learning disabilities and we really couldn’t help them.
“It really was a great program. People left the literacy program and went to college.”
Palmer said he has also enjoyed hosting several displays from NASA and other educational exhibits.
“We’ve done many things out of the box,” he said. “The one I particularly like was the dinosaur one from the Virginia Museum of Natural History. We had artifacts from dinosaurs here and all of these kids from schools were bussed in.”
He said he was also proud of his First Call 211 program, a community information initiative helping those in need find clothing and food.
“We’re the only library in Ohio that does that,” he added.
Palmer said the reason for his retirement is time.
“I have mixed feelings about it. There’s still a lot more here I’d like to do, we built a new Bellville (library) and a new Ontario (library), which were very much needed,” he said. “We’re in a period right now where we’ve refurbished some of the branches and need to do (others) because they are worn out because of use.
“It’s been very rewarding; the community has been very supportive. I can’t take all of the credit — the board was supportive of me and we have terrific staff that serve the customer.”
