Book lover retires after 26 years as city librarian
San Diego Union-Tribune: July 6, 07: by Tanya Sierra
Anne Campbell always knew she wanted to be a librarian. Her passion for books started as a young girl, when she would lock herself in her bedroom and journey into the worlds depicted on the pages she read.
The addiction was so strong that her mother restricted the number of books she could check out from the city library to five per week. “I would stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning reading,” she said. “In seventh grade I wrote a letter to the American Library Association and asked, 'How do I become a librarian?' ”
Campbell, National City's head librarian, retired this week after 26 years of forging a relationship with the city's readers.
The 59-year-old, who grew up in Denver, didn't deviate from the path the library association outlined for her in its response. Even during her teen years, when rebellion can sometimes set in, Campbell never strayed far from the library.
“The library was where I was meant to be,” Campbell said.
Just as Campbell knew her career path, she knew
National City needed a strong library program for its many students and illiterate adults.
In the working-class city, 36 percent of the population – the highest rate in the county – is illiterate and more than 40 percent didn't finish high school.
Campbell arrived at the National City Public Library in 1981.
“You could have rolled a bowling ball in the library because no one came in,” she said. “They were running the library like it was the 1960s.”
Although National City has always been diverse, a large immigrant population began settling in the city during the '70s and early '80s, Campbell said. Many families weren't aware the library was a place where they could check out books for free or get literacy services.
She began with an adult reading program, which expanded to a family program. Soon a Words on Wheels mobile library service was sent into neighborhoods to entice children to read.
“If you raise the literacy rate of a community, then you raise the socioeconomic status of the community,” Campbell said.
Perhaps her biggest feat was getting overwhelming community support for a bond in 2002 for a new, $17 million library.
At the time, city officials applied for a state grant, but first needed local funding in place. They had to move fast to get a $6 million bond measure on the ballot for March 2002, three months before the state application was due.
In an extremely competitive process, National City was the only city in the county to win a library grant in the first selection round. The grant provided $11.1 million. Private donations added $1.3 million.
The 50,000-square-foot library opened in August 2005. It's so popular that a line of people is often waiting at the door when it opens.
Running a busy library takes work, and Campbell is a serious woman with high expectations – sometimes too high, say those who have worked with her.
Some union employees felt uncomfortable because they were asked to work community events off the clock, and felt Campbell didn't support their union activities, said James Slade, the Municipal Employees Union president.
“I just know she was a difficult person to work with and our municipal employees always had an issue,” he said, adding that the union has filed a grievance against her.
When asked about Slade's comments, Campbell said she didn't know of any conflicts.
Councilman Luis Natividad, who credits Campbell with running a top-notch city library, said he would have liked a closer City Hall-library relationship.
“There was a distance between the library and the City Council,” he said, adding, “She's very passionate about the library.”
Campbell admits to giving her all to the library, even tearing up when she described what it means to the community.
“It's free, it's open, it nourishes the mind but also the soul,” she said.
Campbell, who is also a National School District trustee, plans to continue her elected work, volunteer at the library and spend time with family during the next phase of her life. She is married and has a grown son.
“Retirement looks fabulous,” she said. “I worked really hard.”
Southern California Library Literacy Network
