‘The connections are very personal. You meet the patrons face-to-face and see them often. They tell you what they want to read. You work closely with the volunteers who are such a big part of our library system’
By: John Tredrea
Pat Butcher will retire with her sense of humor alive and well. A small pillow on her desk chair at the Pennington Public Library says: "Retirement is twice as much husband and half as much money."
"My husband retired three years ago, and we’ve been kidding each other quite a bit about the strain my retirement will mean in terms of how much more time we’ll be together," Ms. Butcher said Monday. "Actually, we’re looking forward to it. We’ll get to do some traveling."
It was in May 1996, about a six months after the new borough library opened in the new Borough Hall, that she took the job she will leave Feb. 28. "I loved the job," she said. "It was the best way I could have ended my career."
Ms. Butcher, who has a doctorate in women’s educational history from Rutgers University, worked at the College of New Jersey, formerly known as Trenton State College, for 28 years before becoming the borough’s librarian. Her last seven years at the college were as assistant dean of public services.
"I worked at the college much longer than I did here, but it’s this job that I look back on now with the most nostalgia," she said. "The connections are very personal. You meet the patrons face-to-face and see them often. They tell you what they want to read. You work closely with the volunteers who are such a big part of our library system."
Announced by Councilwoman Nancy Ross at the Feb. 4 Pennington Borough Council meeting was a major accomplishment under Ms. Butcher’s leadership: landing a $15,000 state grant that will be used to bring automation to the library (see separate story).
Ms. Butcher, who lives in Rocky Hill, will step up involvement in several volunteer programs after retirement, including the Princeton-based Small Animal Rescue League and Recordings for the Blind. She’ll also make use of her husband’s retirement gift: a membership to Gold’s Gym. "I’m going to take a yoga class," she said. "I’ve lost some flexibility over the years."
Perhaps with regard to rotary motion, but not with wit.