WAVELAND — As a small town librarian, Rick Payne was the information keeper for the southwestern corner of the county.
Patrons come up the steps of the Carnegie-funded library, where a painting donated by Waveland-educated T.C. Steele hangs over the fireplace, seeking answers to their reference questions.
In the days when the elementary school was still open, the first grade teacher would walk the children over to pick out books for the week.
“But I would say 90% of our business is just pleasure,” said Payne, who has retired from the Waveland-Brown Township Public Library after more than a decade as director.
Payne, a former school librarian, arrived as the World War I-era library entered the digital age. The building itself underwent a transformation: a new roof, freshly-poured front steps and updated shelving. Gone were the “rattling old” window air conditioners replaced with central air.
The library remained a gathering place for movies, story hours and presentations, and programs for children designed to “entice them away from their phones,” Payne said. Readership dropped significantly after the elementary school closed in 2014.
Waveland is a member of the Evergreen Indiana Library Consortium, allowing patrons to use their library cards at more than 100 public, school and institutional libraries across the state. The interlibrary loan program is another popular service.
“I would like the library to be open to everyone and they feel comfortable coming in here, and they realize that we have more to offer them that can help them other than books,” said Christy Roark, the new director.
Roark had been taking her preschool-aged children to browse the shelves when she was first hired as a library aide. It was a change in career after working in the Hamilton County Jail and serving as an administrator in the U.S. Navy.
She is only the 10th director in the library’s 106-year history. Roark oversees a part-time staff of four other employees. Payne agreed to stay through the rest of the month during the transition.
The library will be changing hours beginning Sept. 1. The hours will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The library will be closed on Fridays.
