After spending 20 years reshelving books at the Northwest Branch of the Jefferson County Library, Naomi Louise Follmar has retired at age 88, two years earlier than she had hoped.
Before her retirement on Jan. 4, Follmar, who goes by Louise and lives in Fenton, was the second longest-term employee at the Northwest Branch in High Ridge, said branch manager Cindy Hayes, who has been with the branch more than 25 years and is the longest-term employee.
Pam Klipsch, director of the Jefferson County Library system, which includes two other branches, said the system has 14 employees who have worked 20 or more years and two employees who will celebrate 30 years this year.
Follmar said she will turn 89 in April and was hoping to work until she turned 90.
“At least 90; I would have gone to 91 or 92, but unfortunately, that is not going to happen,” she said.
Follmar said she has problems with her back and her doctor recommended she retire.
She said she has had back pain since 2007 after a fall off a ladder.
“I use a walker with a basket on it to put books away, but my doctor said, ‘I think maybe since you’re not getting any better, maybe your work is not doing you any good,’” she said.
Klipsch said she never worked directly with Follmar, but knows she always made the “library a nicer place.”
“She just never sat still and always kept busy,” said Klipsch, who is retiring at the end of March and will be replaced by Tony Benningfield, who had been the director at the De Soto Public Library.
Getting the job
Follmar said after moving to Missouri in 1999 she saw a help wanted sign at the library when checking out books.
“I said, ‘Man, this is the perfect job for me because I like to read,’” she said.
Follmar was hired in February 2000.
Before working at the library, Follmar was a stay-at-home mom and raised three children. She also was a Girl Scout leader.
Follmar originally was hired as a page, but a few years ago the page position was eliminated, and she became a clerk, although her duties did not change much.
She said she was the last page before the library changed the job duties and title.
Follmar said her job at the library was simple, but she greatly enjoyed it.
“My job was to put books back on the shelf in order, and that was pretty much it,” she said. “Because I absolutely never wanted to be a clerk, they let me just keep putting the books away, and there were a lot of books to put away.”
Hayes said Follmar has “an eye for detail” so reshelving was a “perfect job” for her.
“She was one of the most reliable employees I think I’ve ever had,” Hayes said.
She said Follmar is greatly missed, and her job has not been filled yet.
“Everybody’s had to pitch in to fill in that gap and make sure items are being returned to the shelves properly and timely,” Hayes said. “So, she’s definitely missed by all of the staff.”
Follmar said the library changed a lot during the 20 years she worked there.
“Well, when I first started out, they were a lot stricter,” she said. “We were not allowed to chew gum. We had a dress code. We were not allowed to wear blue jeans.”
Follmar said she was excited when the dress code changed because she likes to wear jeans.
“I was real glad when they eased up on the dress code thing,” she said.
Hayes said she believes the dress code changed in 2005.
Follmar said another big change was the expansion of materials the library began offering people to check out. In addition to books, the library started offering neck ties, bakeware and exercise equipment for checkout.
“The library is just really changing a lot,” she said.
Follmar worked at the Northwest Branch before it moved to its current location at 5680 Hwy. PP. She said she still has a commemorative glass from the move on October 30, 2005.
She said the old space, which was on High Ridge Boulevard, is now a mattress store.
“It was a really small space,” Follmar said.
The library system also operates the Arnold Branch and the Windsor Branch in Barnhart.
Retirement
Follmar said what she misses most since retiring is having a place to go.
“I miss going to the library,” she said.
Follmar said once her back is in better shape she plans to return and volunteer.
“I am not giving up yet,” she said. “I am stubborn.”
Follmar said retirement will give her more time to spend with her family, though.
In addition to her adult children, she has seven grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and five step-great-grandchildren. Her late husband, Lloyd Fredric Follmar, died in 2008 a day before their 60th wedding anniversary.
Love of reading
Follmar said she discovered her love of reading after fifth grade when her family moved from Oklahoma to El Centro, Calif. She said a girl who lived nearby asked if she wanted a ride on her bike to the local library.
“She pedaled me down to the library in El Centro and got me a library book and that started it,” Follmar said.
She said the Tarzan books were among her favorites when she was a child.
“I was allowed five books to read every week (at the El Centro library) and I would go in and get the thickest book I could find to take home and read, and I would always have them read by the time Saturday rolled around,” she said.
Follmar said she will read any genre but horror, and if she runs out of books, she will find something to read.
“I even read the backs of my food to see what content is in it,” she said.
Follmar said she reads so much she is one of a few people who has a gold library card.
Klipsch said the gold card was a promotion at the Northwest Branch for patrons who had checked out at least 5,000 items.
“It was just a way to distinguish some of our really dedicated library users,” she said.
Hayes said the branch no longer gives out gold cards.
Follmar said she has been checking out six or seven books a week since retirement and finishes them before the week is over.