Lindquist to close the book on her 36-year library career

Alan Dale 

for the Wausa Gazette

WAUSA — Virginia Lindquist is leaving behind a life of service that brought Wausa closer to her heart.

Lindquist, 78, the longtime librarian at the Lied Lincoln Township Library in Wausa, is officially retiring on Oct. 31 after 36 years of service.

“I am going to miss it a lot,” Lindquist said. “There are people who I won’t cross paths with and who come from various people when I retire. I will miss them badly.

Before becoming a librarian, Lindquist worked at Strategic Air Command headquarters underground in Operations in Omaha, shortly after graduating from Omaha South High School – which inducted their alum into its Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Lindquist ultimately ended up in Wausa and discovered she had a desire to work at the library when Ruth Carlson held the librarian post.

“I told someone that I would love to have ‘this job,’” Lindquist said. “Ruth must have overheard me, because she called and asked if I wanted the job, she wanted to retire. It wasn’t because of any of my qualifications, believe me.”

She had worked in her high school library, but Lindquist believes she got the job possibly because no one else applied for the position. 

Even with her kids getting older and wanting to stay involved with their lives – including one year when they housed a foreign exchange student – she decided she wanted the job regardless.

“Ruth worked with me for about a month, but when I started, I had the desk, a telephone and one outlet,” Lindquist. “I was pretty much on my own to begin with. It was about how do I order books that people wanted. There were so many areas in the library. That took a little getting used to.”

While Lindquist worked and got more familiar with the post and suffered her first boo boo by getting rid of a number of vintage magazines that she believed not to have much worth and incurred the wraith of a library board member.

“Sometimes you walk into things and haven’t planned having trouble with, but it happens,” Lindquist said. “I really did not have anyone to help me along the way too much.”

Familiarity in the role led to more experience and confidence and then came those dreaded computers.

“Computers were really in demand at the library then,” Lindquist said. “Ordering and cataloging and things like that are on the computer now. You have e-books you can access from our library. That’s been really interesting.”

The biggest advancement came when the library became stuffed with more and more materials and consideration started for the building of a new one.

“Every time we had a new site, it fell through,” Lindquist said. “We received a $20,000 grant and a family stepped up with a $150,000.00 donation.  By then I heard of the Lied Foundation. The lady who answered said, ‘tell me about your project’ and then she said she was the secretary for Mr. Ernst Lied in Omaha when he had a car dealership and then moved to Las Vegas.”  

“We visited for a long time and it turned out that she knew exactly where I lived; she had a friend who went to South High. She asked about our plans and I told her that there were two flights of steps that were getting harder and harder for me. She then asked that I send our plans and how much money we had raised.  It wasn’t very long before I received a letter back saying we had not raised enough money, but to get back to her. I was back to praying,”

One day, a letter arrived from the foundation and it was discovered that Lindquist had eared a $250,000 grant for the construction of a library.

“A few days later, the OK was given to start construction,” Lindquist said. “Our first ground-breaking was to be held in February, but then there was a snowstorm, so it was moved up to April.  Who in the world would schedule a groundbreaking in February? I definitely believe God’s hand was on this project from beginning to end, as construction went without a hitch.”

That included raising a new building that attached itself to the old one.

Current president of the library board, Katie Clausen said the new library – finished in 2014 – ultimately changed the entire environment of the library.

“Since the new structure was added on to the library, we have seen a tremendous increase in patrons,” Clausen said. “The new space has allowed what was once a small, inefficient and incredibly outdated library to morph into an open and welcoming environment that provides many resources to the public. Because of the addition, which was funded 100 percent via fundraising, the library is now able to offer the public a meeting room, increased catalogue, recreational space, a technology area, and even a heritage room where individuals can come and do research on their ancestors and trace their family roots.” 

“Virginia had a vision of the library and due to her perseverance, that vision came to fruition.”

Clausen said Lindquist’s replacement has been named and plenty more plans are in the offing.

“Wendy Ketelsen will be taking over Virginia’s position as Library Director,” Clausen said. “She is an accredited librarian who, for the last few years, has spearheaded our youth programs and done a wonderful job. We are looking forward to her new role. During Wendy’s initial transition of hosting children’s reading programing from the Old Library to the New Library, we saw an increase in circulation of children’s materials by almost three times. Youth of all ages in our community enjoy the library and because they are in the building, they are reading.”

“Wausa is a relatively small community, but we essentially now have a fully functioning library that rivals that of any larger community. Aside from a small allowance from the Lincoln Township, we rely almost entirely on donations and our small army of volunteers help keep the doors open as well.”

Some of the factors for Lindquist’s retirement is her use of a wheelchair and her husband Douglas’ recent hip surgeries that have made it harder for her to get her to, and in and around, the facility. 

Lindquist will now spend time visiting with her children and grandchildren around the region and begin to focus more on her quilting and painting. 

While she does all that, the library life she lived will remain a part of her soul and heartbeat.

“It’s been a joy to be there,” Lindquist said. “It’s been a home away from home because I spent a lot of time there.”