Murray
Earlier in December, one of the most familiar faces around the Cardington-Lincoln Public Library, Director Lisa Murray, retired from her post after over 20 years of service as both the fiscal officer and director of library services. Sitting down with the Sentinel for an exclusive interview, Murray reflected on her entire career at the public library, her background, the transition of the library to new leadership, and her personal future plans.
Murray’s career path started after successfully graduating from Capital University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in computer science. After graduation, she pursued a position at then Bank One Corporation, now Chase Bank, and held different occupations during her 18-year career there.
“First, I was in bank operations management and then information systems where I worked on major software development projects,” stated Murray. While at Bank One Corporation, Murray earned her master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Capital University. During a brief period between her time at Bank One Corporation and the Cardington-Lincoln Public Library, she managed a small business.
“Work has always been satisfying, and I have always found purpose in my work,” Murray said.
Arriving at the Cardington-Lincoln Public Library in 2003, Murray started as the fiscal officer for the institution and credited former library Director Al Zavar for his confidence in hiring her 20 years ago. Zavar departed the following year, and Murray succeeded him as director/fiscal officer for 19 years.
“Reflecting on my whole career, it’s been long,” said Murray. A self-diagnosed workaholic, she “always put the time in that felt necessary to get the work done.”
In her first orders of business from the then library’s Board of Trustees, Murray commented, “I was tasked with an increase of programming in the beginning of my directorship.” By utilizing her background in software development, Murray began implementation of new programs with the help of the library staff. Just as these new services were getting off the ground, the Great Recession hit and rocked the library’s funding that it received from the State of Ohio. “(The library Board of Trustees and I) had to make tough decisions about staff, programming, and service hours,” stated Murray. “It was definitely one of the hardest things I had to do.”
With dealing with the economic downturn of the early 2010s and its subsequent gradual recovery until the mid-2010s, Murray prides herself on her financial stewardship of the library’s funding and on the accomplishment of “offering quality library services on a shoestring budget as long as (the library) did.”
Establishing and revitalizing the technology services at the Cardington-Lincoln Public Library expanded with Murray’s imprint. She took charge in creating a replacement schedule for the library’s hardware and in trying to meet the needs of the patrons by offering around-the-clock access to wireless internet. Her ability to write grants on behalf of the institution allowed for the beginnings of the hotspot lending program, its technology assistance service, and helped train other staff members to take part in aiding patrons who are in need of navigating new technology and writing grants.
The most impactful grant Murray wrote and the Cardington-Lincoln Public Library was awarded came during the waning days of the COVID-19 pandemic where the library was able to purchase a transit van with funds from the state to provide a “larger presence throughout the school district.” It has drastically increased the facility’s outreach by allowing more mobility to the staff to interact with more patrons.
Murray’s relationship with patrons has evolved over her two decades of employment to allow for a more personal service for the library’s “regulars” when it came to reading recommendations and even learned a “few lessons” from them, too. Looking back to her early tenure at the library, she assisted with Story Time, a program popular with young families that preschool-aged children attend for a book and activity.
“To watch those preschoolers grow up … it is fun to see those small kids become responsible adults and their names on school’s honor and merit rolls,” said Murray.
She credits the “Saturday volunteers” for giving up countless hours of their weekend to help the library stay open for service during the years after cuts caused by lost funding during the Great Recession.
“Linda Harvey was one, and Bob and Hazel Miller were the longest-serving Saturday volunteers at the library,” said Murray, who added she was grateful for the Millers as their passion for the local facility shined through as they continued to show up on Saturday morning to pitch in even as the library had the funds to pay staff to oversee operations on the weekend.
Patti McAvoy, a former library board member, and Deborah Moore have been faithful volunteers who Murray has gratitude for as well, who arrive every Thursday to help cover novels that will go on shelves. “Mary Lou (Dowalter) was one of the biggest volunteers and very faithful (to the library),” she added.
Kelly Kirkpatrick and Lisa Ebert have been the two longest-tenured employees under Murray as Kirkpatrick has been at her post at the front desk throughout all of Murray’s tenure, and Murray hired Ebert off of the library board to fill the position of adult services librarian.
“Each person has been great over the years. I am proud to have trained recent graduates of college with degrees in library science (such as Hillary Scholz and Andy Bartlett) where they were able to gain knowledge at Cardington and become successful as they moved on in their careers as librarians,” said Murray. “I will miss the patrons and the staff.”
As the director and fiscal officer positions are under the supervision of the library’s Board of Trustees, Murray worked alongside several compositions of the board of trustees and “always felt supported and had proper oversight.”
As for future plans for the library, Kelsey Wicker will become the library’s director as she has served recently as the assistant director. Murray commented that the recent passage of the library’s operating levy is going to spur success for expansion of service hours and the use of the library’s transit van that delivers materials to patrons in the Fulton area, Bennington Glen, Cardington-Lincoln Local Schools, and others who are homebound. Wicker looks to be tasked with hiring two positions, a custodian and youth services assistant, as she begins her directorship.
Murray said she is looking forward to her retirement plans of working on some renovation projects on her home, visiting her family, and doing some vacationing. An avid runner, Murray is hoping to revitalize her racing career in long distances, and she’s wanting to spend more time on her personal hobbies.
A celebration sponsored by the Cardington-Lincoln Public Library Board of Trustees and staff will be held at Bunker’s Mill Winery in Cardington from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 5, where pizza, cake, and cheese ball will be provided. Drinks will be available for purchase.
Quinn Maceyko is a correspondent for the Morrow County Sentinel.
