Murphy – Julie Chautin has put a lot of time into making the local library a gathering place for folks of all ages in the community.
She was one of the founding members of Friends of the Murphy Public Library, contributing countless volunteer hours to integrate learning and reading with community activities.
“I grew up going to libraries. One day a week, my mother would pick us up from school and drive us to the library,” she said.
“It was a remarkable learning experience to be mostly told what to read and then at a young age being given a chance to decide on our own what we liked. It was a step up in our independence to let us just walk in and find our way around.”
Cultural base
Chautin was born in Detroit. After finishing the 10th grade in Michigan, Chautin went overseas in 1965 to finish high school in Barcelona, Spain.
“I really wanted to have a different experience,” she said. “In the back of The New York Times, I saw an ad for a boarding program at an American school in Barcelona.
“My dad loved travel and education opportunities, so this seemed like a big thing for me. Barcelona was a smaller major city back then, and the boarding house had four small bedrooms and one bath.”
She said folks from various European countries would often come to stay at the boarding house, exposing her to different cultures and ideas. While there, she learned Spanish, which would end up being a keystone for her adult life.
Chautin returned to the states and attended the University of Michigan, where she majored in Spanish and got her teaching certificate.
“And then it snowed in April …” she recalled, helping her decide to move south. “I got in my Volkswagen bug and told my parents I was going to Atlanta. I found a teaching job and did that for a couple of years, but then I got into business.”
Chautin added Portuguese to her lingual repertoire, leading her to become the North American sales manager for a Brazilian paper mill company with an office in Atlanta. She also worked with Atlanta’s Latin American Film Festival for nearly 25 years, combining her love of movies with cultural knowledge and experience.
“There were a lot of people who came back every year, and it was like a family reunion,” she said of the festival.
Atlanta is where she met her husband, Jerry Chautin, who also was involved in sales. He is a native of the Bronx, N.Y., and graduate of the University of Florida, making last year’s Peach Bowl between the Gators and Wolverines an awkward one for the couple.
“I was walking around in my Michigan shirt, and he has his Gators shirt, and a lot of people came up to me and said they were sorry,” she said with a laugh, referencing Florida’s 41-15 win on Dec. 30, 2018.
The Chautins later worked together in a commercial mortgage banking firm before their retirement.
Friends of the Library
The Chautins have been going back and forth from Atlanta to Murphy since 1998, getting involved in both communities. Around 2005, she noticed that the Murphy Public Library occasionally was showing films.
“I started asking if I could help get the word out about the movies, and at one point Jerry suggested that I sent a movie review to the Cherokee Scout, and you guys published it,” she said. “Then they wanted to organize a friends group, and we got that going around 2007.”
Friends of the Murphy Library is a 501(c)3 group that supports activities and promotes reading among youth, including the purchase of two reading cubicles for smaller children. They also hold a major craft supply sale in the summer to raise money.
“The reason I started it was because I saw a documentary on spelling bees, and it was so interesting that I went to the schools and offered to support their spelling bees with prizes,” Chautin said. “We got a lot from the sale and from donations as well.
“We originally thought it would not require much from volunteers and people would sell their own stuff, but some folks cleaned out their craft closet and we had a lot of people helping us. Now it’s an event that when people hear it’s coming they just light up.”
There also is an annual closing contest for kids and a bake sale coming up at the library Thursday, Oct. 10.
“We are trying to do everything we can to make the library attractive to both kids and adults with what we offer,” Chautin said, adding that the purchase of language tapes and other books on tape have been popular with local residents.
Chautin said events like the Pressley Girls concert on Sept. 9 are among those Friends of the Library are trying to promote to be more involved in the community.
“At the library, we really want to do more and more things to become a community center,” she said. “We want people to come here for special events. We want people to socialize here and catch up with each other. It is fun to see things happening here, and it’s exciting for us.
“The library is a special place.”