Longtime Westport Timberland Library Manager, Kathleen Ringenberg, will be retiring at the end of this month. To thank her for her many years of service, the Friends of the Westport Timberland Library will host an Open House celebration from noon to 3 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 24, at the library.
Library patrons and friends are cordially invited to stop by to wish Kathleen well and enjoy light refreshments.
Ringenberg worked as an assistant at the Westport library for three years from the fall of 1986 to 1989, then left for a year. She returned as an assistant to librarian Bev Westfall in September of 1991, becoming manager in 1995 when Westfall retired.
Many changes
Ringenberg says there have been big changes at the local library over the past 29 years, especially in the way that patrons get materials and information. “When I first started, I hauled an average of 50 books a day to the post office to mail to patrons, and licked stamps for every package,” she said with a laugh.
“We used to devote a lot of shelf space to reference books. Now the library system has extensive electronic data bases that provide the same information and more. What we really need now is more room for people.
“When I first started, we had LP record albums to loan to patrons and five music cassettes. Through the years, we’ve moved on to CDs, then videos, and now DVDs and electronic books.
“Another big milestone was getting Internet access in the early nineties. Now we have WiFi available seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight, and very often, the parking lot is filled with vehicles whose owners are taking advantage of that service whether the library is opne or not,” she said.
New library milestone
Moving to the newly constructed library buildng in December of 2006 was a major milestone in Ringenberg’s career. “That was a five-year project. Our building committee met at least once a month during those five years and I baked cookies for every meeting,” she recalled. “It was a long, hard road, including the fundraising, planning and then construction of the new building,” she said.
Family matters
Born and raised in Aberdeen, Ringenberg, (nee Nyman), graduated from Weatherwax High School, earned an Associate’s degree from Grays Harbor College and then her BA in Elementary Education from Washington State University in 1967. She taught school for two years in Issaquah and then returned to Grays Harbor.
She met her husband, Larry, who was in the Coast Guard at the time, at the old Fishermen’s Inn in 1970. The couple married in 1971. The Ringenbergs have two sons; Tim, 43, and his wife, former South Beach resident, Briana Slosson, live in Federal Way. Mike, 40, lives in Juneau and attends the University of Alaska.
Larry was stationed at Tokeland at the time, and Kathleen became a traveling Coast Guard wife for the next several years. After spending their first six years in Tokeland, a year on the Columbia River, followed by four years on Guam and a year at LaPush, Larry was assigned to Station Grays Harbor in 1983. That same year, the couple bought their home in Westport. The following year, Kathleen joined the Friends of the Westport Timberland Library.
Larry’s last three-year tour was at 13th District Coast Guard Headquarters in Seattle. He stayed in Seattle during the week, coming home on weekends, until he retired from the military in 1989. Since then, Larry’s been a long-haul tug operator, currently towing barges to and from Hawaii.
Retirement plans
The couple has enjoyed traveling, mostly on cruises that have taken them literally all around the world, including to some far-flung places more than once. Kathleen says that she’s now looking forward to taking road trips to explore the lower 48 states, allowing them to take their dog with them.
She also enjoys flower gardening, bird watching and baking, saying that she really wants to master pies and breads.
Kathleen will also continue coming to the library as a volunteer for the Friends of the Library organization. “I will keep organizing and managing our used book sales,” she said. “That’s been my thing for years and I’m not giving it up,” she added with a smile.
While she says there are many things she will miss about being at the library regularly, including children’s story times and craft activities, “What I will miss the most is the people. Our library patrons are a diversified group and it’s been wonderful getting to know so many people through the years,” she said.
In her absence, current Senior Library Assistants, Eileen Pinkerton and Jennifer Finlayson, will carry on, along with a yet-to-be-hired library assistant.
