You are invited to help us celebrate Mae and Jon Wellnitz and send them off into retirement with all our best wishes. Join us at the Main Library on Wednesday, September 25, from 2 - 4 p.m. This is a drop-in event, but remarks will be made at 2:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Mae and Jon have been with the Fort Smith Public Library collectively for more than 50 years! Before they leave us, we decided to ask them a few questions. Read on to hear Mae and Jon’s library memories, favorite books, their thoughts on the library, and more.

Q. & A. with Mae and Jon Wellnitz

When did you start working at the library?

Mae:  I started part-time in August 1992 but got moved to full-time within my first week.

Jon:  March 6, 2006 at 7 a.m.

What kind of work did you do before you came to work at the library?

Mae:  I have done several different jobs:  CNA at three different nursing homes, store clerk, and cashier for convenience stores and a truck stop with a motel.  Then when I was taking classes at Westark I got a student worker position in the library.

Jon:  I have always worked construction in some form since 1984.  I also worked in the logging woods, as an upholsterer, as a convenience store clerk, as a sawman at a limo company, and at times doing anything I could to keep my family fed.  I started at Westark Community College on December 1, 1995, then left in 2005 and started an HVAC company, Wellnitz Heat and A/C Services.  The cost of insurance was extremely high so when the opening at the Fort Smith Public Library came up I was blessed to be hired.

Do you remember what motivated you to want to work at the library?

Mae:  I needed money to feed four hungry mouths at home!

Jon:  The opportunity to continue participating in the retirement system I had at UAFS and to fill a position I felt comfortable in.

Describe the Fort Smith Public Library in three words.

Mae:  Friendly, accepting, knowledgeable

Jon:  That is an impossible question to answer, but if I have to:  Fun, challenging, exciting

How has the library changed in the years you’ve worked here?

Mae:  We added CDs, DVDs, and moved to a new location.

Jon:  When I started the library was a six-year-old baby that was pretty much coasting from a maintenance standpoint, since it was a newer building.  In the 18 years since, as the building ages gracefully more work is required to maintain the complexities of all four locations – from the parking lot entrance to the parking lot exit and everything in between.

What has been your favorite part about working at the library?

Mae:  Library customers

Jon:  It always makes me smile when parents bring little ones in to pick up books or just play with the toys and puzzles or take a break from the heat or cold of the day.  They are always so excited about getting a book of their own to check out.

What’s your favorite library service?

Mae:  The bookmobile when it was running, interlibrary loan, and home service.  The annual Holiday Open House in December is fun.

Jon:  Right now it’s audiobooks.  I love history-based works with a touch of new thrillers mixed in.

Is there a memory or moment in time from your work at the library that especially stands out?

Mae:  The celebration of the grand opening of the Main Library at the new location in 2001.

Jon:  My first day to work I was getting ready at home and was using a Q-tip.  I forgot and left it in my ear and later when putting my shirt on I raised my arms over my head and shoved the Q-tip through my eardrum.  It was painful.  I’ll never forget that.

Finish this sentence:  The thing I’ll miss most about working in the library is…

Mae:  My coworkers and the library customers.

Jon:  I will miss the routine of daily checks of the library as a whole.  Making sure that everyone is welcomed into a warm or cool clean building and enjoys the services we offer.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about either the library or library staff?

Mae:  That there’s not a lot to do and library staff get to read all the time.

Jon:  People don’t realize all the work that goes into getting one book on the shelf.  It sounds easy but there are a number of steps that have to be completed to know where to find it.  Now that the library has switched to RFID, finding a book may be easier but all the information about that book still has to be entered into the computer system.  It’s not “get a book in and go put it on the shelf.”

What are you most looking forward to about retirement?

Mae:  Traveling and sleeping late.

Jon:  I think turning off the alarm clock that first day will be great.

Do you have a favorite book?

Mae:  Anything that can keep my interest.

Jon:  The Stand by Stephen King.  The book, not the movie series.

Is there anything else you’d like to add or an answer to a question you wish we’d asked?

Jon:  I really think that if some folks would take the time to look at the resources on the Fort Smith Public Library webpage and explore it, they would be surprised at what they would find that would help them.  It’s just a wealth of information arranged like only a librarian could.