Murphy – After 17 productive and enjoyable years, nine at the helm, head librarian Melissa Barker checked herself out for the last time on Feb. 25.
Family, friends and co-workers celebrated her time there with a party Friday night at El Maguey Restaurant on Andrews Road.
Barker said her replacement, Erika Gibby, who began Dec. 1 last year, has already seamlessly transitioned into Barker’s role.
Barker, born and raised in Colorado, studied secretarial science there. She began volunteering at the Murphy Public Library after moving to the area in 2007.
She was hired in August 2008 as assistant librarian. When the head librarian retired in 2017, the town manager promoted Barker to the head librarian position and deleted the assistant librarian position.
Barker said while the Murphy Public Library is owned by the Town of Murphy, it works well with the three libraries and bookmobile with the Nantahala Regional Library System.
The Dewey decimal system is still used to organize nonfiction books, but books themselves are scanned to be checked out these days.
Barker said the card catalog has been transformed to a seed bank. Packets of vegetable and flower seeds in alphabetical order have given a new purpose to an old wooden cart. People can bring or get seeds. The bank contains growing notes and advice.
A library’s inventory is always being adjusted, Barker said. That includes popular new release best-sellers by authors including the well-known Freida McFadden and James Patterson.
Among the library’s treasures is the genealogy room, which includes a cultural Cherokee language room.
“I’m ready for retirement, but I love reading so, of course, I’ll be back a lot. I’ll miss everybody I work with and patrons,” she said. “Some will come in the door and, by the time they get to the counter, I already have their holds pulled and checked out for them.”
In a matter of days, Barker will have more time to spend with her dog, cat and home improvement projects. And travel, too.
“I’m going to buy a vehicle for my retirement gift, and travel to see my daughters and grandkids,” she said.