As many of you already know, on May 15 we lost our very dear friend and library colleague, Anne Kirchgraber-McKee.
Aside from her work here at the library, many people also knew her from her years of work at Spencer Elementary School. She led the Outdoor Lab classes and was a substitute teacher, as well as working in the Courtyard and Latchkey programs.
Anne stood “brave and strong” through 2 previous battles with cancer. This third and last attack was viciously unresponsive to treatment and the treatment itself proved to be devastating as was the unexpected loss of her husband, Dennis just 4 months prior to her own passing.
If you knew Anne, you probably knew that she was a pretty unique and wonderful individual. You probably knew that she loved animals, and tenderly mothered the pets she had taken in. She loved and cared deeply about her family. She also cared deeply about this planet we all live on. With her blue pixie cut, occasional fox ears and tail for special events, she was whimsical as a children’s librarian should be.
Anne’s parents were also librarians, and it may have been from them that she absorbed a clear understanding of the purpose and value of public libraries, and the reverence of the sacred trust placed on libraries to protect certain rights of ALL patrons.
For all these reasons and so many more, we mourn the loss of Anne, and are so proud and blessed to have known her, loved her, been encouraged and inspired by her. We know many of you mourn with us, and we appreciate your expressions of condolence to us and her family.
Anne was employed here at OCPL for almost 21 years, and was the Youth Services Administrator for many of those years. During all that time, the Summer Reading Program remained her greatest joy.
For those interested, there is now a memorial endowment at the Owen County Community Foundation in honor of Anne, which will support the OCPL Summer Reading Program. Use the QR Code and follow the link.