Carol Phillips EAST BRUNSWICK — Carol Phillips, youth services manager at the East Brunswick Public Library, retired this month.
Phillips first began at the library 37 years ago. After serving as an intern at the library, the Bridgewater native became a full-time librarian, and then was selected as manager of the Youth Services Department in 1982.
“We moved into the town and became a part of it,” she said of her family. “I always liked East Brunswick, and we immersed ourselves in the community.
During her time at the library, Phillips participated in many state and national activities through the New Jersey Library Association; the American Library Association; and the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. She was a committee member for the Newberry and Caldecott award committees.
“When I think about the community 37 years ago — when I think about the library 37 years ago — I see how much the community and the profession has changed,” she said. “This has always been an exciting place.”
In 1998, she was honored by the New Jersey Library Association and became the first children’s librarian to be named “Librarian of the Year.”
She also was elected president of the New Jersey Library Association in 2004.
She served her last day on Aug. 19.
“We want children to know that there is always someone here at the library to help them,” she said. “We want students to know that there is some place beyond school where they can come for help, to find books, to find the information they want, and just to participate in a program or hang out with friendly people.
“It has been so much fun to see our community grow up. How lucky I have been.”