Heidi Patterson

Amanda Chafin has been promoted to the Librarian position at the Tech Center effective on April 26, 2021.

In 1988, Valerie and her husband J returned to Oxford from California and she started her career in the Smith History Library. Through commitment, meticulous research and thorough knowledge of our area Valerie has established herself as a well known and respected local historian.

Her dedication to customer service was always her top priority. Valerie preferred a phone call while on vacation rather than have a patron leave Smith Library without their question answered. I know she has answered reference questions on trains, in airports and thousands of miles away from Oxford. Through this type of commitment Smith History Library has become well known for its outstanding patron centered service.

Over the years she has attended numerous lectures (without a doubt in the hundreds!), historical marker dedications, and tours of museums. In addition she has made many presentations to organizations or classes and facilitated historic district walking tours of Oxford.

At my invitation she has been a guest speaker at the Oxford Rotary Club and her presentations were always engaging, well received and her knowledge was extensive.

Valerie will be greatly missed by patrons and her co-workers

Thank you for your years of service and we wish you all the best for the next chapter in your life called retirement! Enjoy!

Akiko Urayama has been promoted to the Librarian position at the Oxford branch effective on November 2, 2020.

Charlie’s last day on the job will be Saturday, October 31.

Charlie started in August 2001, just weeks before the Grand Opening of the new Fairfield Branch. Over the years, Charlie has provided outstanding care of the building, built solid relationships with staff and the community, and supported ongoing efforts to renovate and improve the Fairfield Lane Library. And as Rob says, “Even though the Fairfield Branch was Charlie’s primary responsibility, he didn’t hesitate to respond when the other facilities needed his help. Charlie is that one-of-kind-employee. Charlie will be very hard to replace.”

He is the glue that holds us together. He has been in the current Fairfield building since Day 1 and it will not be the same without him greeting everyone in the morning with a smile. He shares all he knows with anyone that wants to learn. Charlie keeps our building looking fantastic and we can honestly say that we have the best bathrooms in town! Which is pretty incredible for a 19-year-old public building.

Charlie does everything, and we mean EVERYTHING! He handles janitorial supplies, fixes faucets, toilets, lights, walls, floors, ceilings, electrical issues, moving shelving, furniture, painting and more. He works with the Fairfield City guys on the inside and outside of the building so nothing is missed or neglected. One day you will find him outside washing the acres of windows on the building and the next day he is on the roof changing out the HVAC filters. Uh-oh, someone pooped all over the bathroom?! Never fear, Charlie is there with the Kaivac!

We needed something to keep DVDs from sliding too far back on the shelf – Charlie made us PVC stops! We needed something to keep patron’s possible germs during the pandemic from reaching staff – Charlie made PVC and vinyl ‘sneeze guards’! Mary C regards him as a certified “Miracle Worker.” When the lights need changed under the drive-thru overhang – Charlie climbs to the top of a ladder and stretches up to change them (we’ll hold the ladder for him even though it freaks us out how high he is)! And when the lights WAAAAAY up on the clock tower needed changed – guess who climbed up the fire department’s extension ladder to do it – yep, Charlie!

The security alarm goes off at 2am, and Charlie is here to meet the police and check everything out. He sets up our Christmas tree every year and always has a fun costume for Halloween. He never forgets anyone’s birthday either. The list goes on and on. He has also caught more birds, bats, squirrels, spiders, millipedes, and moths in our building than Desmond Howard caught passes for University of Michigan football. And he is just as good at demolition as he is at building things. He is our real life MacGyver.

Charlie is compassionate, truly has the biggest heart and someone we can all honestly call a friend. Heidi says, “I think the greatest gift, though, is his ability to make everyone feel welcomed and the way he always makes the mood a little lighter. Something we all desperately need.” When staff have had non-work related crises, he has always been there to help whether that means changing a car battery, rescuing keys locked in a car or quite literally rescuing Linsey when she’s had van issues. We will miss him dearly and want him to know how special it has been to have him as a member of our FFB and Lane family over the years.

Feel free to leave a comment wishing Charlie well!