Pat Hamilton retires as Weiser’s librarian

She taught school for over two decades, never envisioning a second career, but’s that what happened to Pat Hamilton when she moved to Weiser in 1995.
 Hamilton wanted something to do and got a job working as a clerk at the Weiser Public Library for $4.95 per hour.
 “I taught kindergarten for 24 years in California,” she said. “I applied for this little clerk job because I was so bored.”
 Two years later, she found herself running the show.
 “This young gal who was the librarian then was looking for a husband and she couldn’t find one in Weiser, so she decided to quit and go someplace else, and so I stepped in,” she said. “There was no interview, there was nothing. It was just, ‘Do you want to be the librarian?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I was still young, in my 50s.”
 That was in 1997.
 Fast forward to 2020, when COVID-19 first hit. With the library traffic slowed to a crawl, Hamilton suddenly had a lot of time on her hands and found she was enjoying it.
 Once the mandates began to relax and activity at the library slowly began to resume, she discovered it was time to call it a career.

“I didn’t want to do it anymore,” she said. “The COVID did it. So, that was the proof.”
 Hamilton was present during new librarian Timbra Long’s interview and said she is happy with the library board’s decision to hire her.
 “She’ll be very good,” she said. “She’ll get all of the automation done, she’ll continue on with the eBooks, with subscriptions. She’s very techy, too, so she’ll have a lot to do. She’ll have some nice things to offer for the younger people.”
 Hamilton is finished with work, but still plans on volunteering in the community.
 “I’m going to do something without a paycheck,” she said. “I’ve worked all my life and I’ve had two great jobs, two great careers, so I’ll probably volunteer.”
 Hamilton was a workhorse for the library and will be missed, according Weiser Public Library Board Chairwoman Marg Chipman.
 “She was tremendous,” Chipman said. “She was really the heart and soul of our little library and made it a vibrant part of our community. We will miss her, but we are also happy for her.”

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