DeRochefort-Reynolds to retire after nearly 40 years at Frank Carlson Library

For almost 40 years, Denise deRochefort-Reynolds has guided the Frank Carlson Library through rewarding, challenging, and occasionally difficult times. On August 31, she will step down as the director of the library.

“I'm going to miss the patrons, the staff, and the books,” deRochefort-Reynolds said. “I loved seeing people find a new book and be excited by it. I really enjoyed engaging with and sharing with our patrons.”

DeRochefort-Reynolds had a winding path to the Frank Carlson Library. “I grew up in small towns in western Pennsylvania,” she said. “Then my dad got a job with the Department of Agriculture and we moved to Washington D.C. I went from rural schools to a big city school.”

DeRochefort-Reynolds' family lived in Virginia, which at the time was a state struggling with desegregation. “It was interesting to have been taught about the Civil War from a Union perspective. And then in Virginia I experienced a whole different perspective. They revered people like Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. Now they're pulling down their statues and renaming schools.”

DeRochefort-Reynolds credits that duality of experience with shaping her life. “It made me very inquisitive. I wanted to know both sides of the story. I was a poor reader to start. My grandmother always made us read, which I sometimes found difficult. But then I found a book that I really liked – 'Little Women' – and it changed everything for me. I like reading about people, and wanted to know more. I became an avid reader. Through books you can experience a thousand lifetimes. With a book you can go places, like outer space or Mt. Everest or back in history a hundred years, that you would never otherwise see.”

After high school, deRochefort-Reynolds initially wanted to become a teacher. She attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, and earned a double-major in creative writing and English, with a minor in history. “I did student teaching in a college classroom, and I learned that I didn't want to teach. What I wanted to do instead was share with the world my passion for reading.”

DeRochefort-Reynolds switched gears and earned another degree from the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Iowa. “While I was in school I worked for the Iowa City Public Library. I discovered that I really wanted to work with children and encourage them to learn.”

Her first job after graduation was as a cataloger at the Maryland Material Center. “It was a processing center for libraries across the whole state. I loved cataloging!”

Then a position opened up as head of the children's department at the Talbot County Free Library

in Easton, Maryland. “I worked there for about six years, and it was very rewarding for me on a personal level. I loved engaging with the children. But then the job here at Frank Carlson opened up, and I applied.”

DeRochefort-Reynolds was hired as the director of the Frank Carlson Library in November of 1983. “When I started here we had a copy machine and a telephone. The carpeting was this very vivid red plaid. The wallpaper was red and blue with some white trim. The décor was very 1970s. Sen. (Frank) Carlson was a frequent visitor. He had birthday parties here.”

A library in 1983 was very different than today's library. “We had no automation,” deRochefort-Reynolds said. “There were no videos or DVDs. We had vinyl records in our collection. We were mostly just books and magazines. It was almost like the library Dark Ages. But times progressed. We were the first library in the state of Kansas to get a grant to build a video collection. In many ways a video is better than a book as a teaching tool. Nowadays a lot of how-to things are more easily watched than read. How to cook, how to knit a scarf – YouTube is filled with all kinds of life hacks. Its easier to watch a demonstration video than reading how to do it.”

In her nearly 40-year tenure as the director of the Frank Carlson Library, deRochefort-Reynolds is proud of the relationships she and her staff have built with the community. “It's been very enriching to be involved with the community for so long. And I've had absolutely wonderful relationships with the board members. They've always been so engaged and open to new ideas – and they were all volunteers!”

DeRochefort-Reynolds also has high praise for all the staff who have worked at the library in the past 40 years. “We've always had wonderful staff,” she said. “They were always dedicated to their library mission.”

But it is her relationship with the library patrons that deRochefort-Reynolds will find hard to part ways with. “Honestly, not seeing all of those people on a daily or weekly basis makes it very hard for me to retire. They've always been supportive of the things we tried to do here. People make the library. The parents who bring their children to story time, or browse for a book or even just play on the computer – I'm going to miss them all. I'm very proud of the children's programs we have in place here now.”

DeRochefort-Reynolds is also proud of the library's diversity in the material it offers. “I've been in charge of purchasing materials for the library, and I hope that I've come to understand our clientele. There may be books or videos that I personally don't like, but all people have varied taste, and I've always tried to stay in tune with what our patrons wanted.”

To lead a public institution for nearly 40 years is no easy task, and deRochefort-Reynolds' tenure at the Frank Carlson Library is noted throughout the state. “There is nobody in the Central Kansas Library System who has been here as long as me, and I'm kind of proud of that, too. I hope that my time here has been successful.”

Lyndsey Kopsa will be taking over as the new director of the Frank Carlson Library. Originally from Concordia, Kopsa has a master of library science degree from Emporia State University and was the director of the Hennessey Public Library in Hennessey, Oklahoma.

“I'm excited to bring a new person in,” deRochefort-Reynolds said. “I think the community is really going to like Lyndsey.”

As for the future, deRochefort-Reynolds has no ironclad plans. Well, perhaps one: “I am not setting my alarm clock!” she said with a laugh. “I have never been a morning person, so I'm interested to find out what my personal biorhythm is.”

DeRochefort-Reynolds said she is a realist when it comes to looking forward. “You don't know what's going to happen in the future, and sometimes that's a blessing. I hope to travel, and I have a lot of books at home that I haven't read yet because they don't have a due date. I'm still that same person who wants to find out about things. I'm still inquisitive. I still want to know and expand my mind.”

When deRochefort-Reynolds reflects on her decades at the library, and her life in Concordia, her eyes soften from all the wonderful memories. “I couldn't have asked for a better job and better community to be a part of,” she said. “Concordia has just been wonderful to me and my family.”