"I just knew it was time," Vernita Hettrich said when asked why she did not seek re-election to the Oswego Public Library District Board. "I think the library is in good hands."

When Hettrich leaves the board later this month she will have completed 44 years of service on the board.

Hettrich said she has always loved to read, and was involved in helping raise money for the library. When board members suggested she run for the board, she did and won a seat in May of 1973. That reign will end on April 26 when a new board will be sworn in.

Hettrich recalled her main qualification for being elected the first time was her love for the library and her interest in books and reading. And getting elected that first time was not difficult because no one ran against her, she noted.

Hettrich said she never thought about how long she would serve when first elected. She admitted thinking about retiring a time or two during the past 10 years. But new construction projects kept coming up that she wanted to see completed, so she stayed on.

Not only has Hettrich set a record with 44 years on the board, but her 22 or so years as board president is also a record for the agency. She was elected president on May 24, 1995, to replace Gary VeZain, according to library records.

The amount of time she spent in meetings as president varied but definitely increased each time the board took on a new building project because she had to attend all meetings with the architect and contractors.

"Several years ago people said libraries would become obsolete because of modern technology, but we've never been busier. And our paper books are still very much in demand," she said.

When Hettrich first ran for election, the library district was called the Oswego Township Library and the actual library occupied only the west end of the present downtown Oswego Campus Library. Since that time it has been expanded several times as the community it serves grew.

During her 44 years, Hettrich served with 46 other trustees, many of whom she said are no longer with us.

"I served with some really dedicated people over the years. I have fond memories of some, but not very fond memories of some [others] too," she said, preferring not to give names. "Some are still alive ... but not many."

And of course, like many boards, there were a couple members she felt ran just to have something to put on their resume. But she said they lasted only one term.

Hettrich said her most memorable times on the board over the years were always when they completed and held ribbon-cuttings for each building project – and there were many of them. Hettrich has probably experienced more ribbon-cuttings and grand openings than almost any local public official. They included three additions to the downtown Oswego Campus Library and construction of the Montgomery Campus Library just west of the northwest corner of U.S. Routes 30 and 34 in Montgomery.

She recalled that during her time, one building referendum failed, but it turned out to the library district's advantage.  Before they asked for another referendum to be passed, they received a seven-acre parcel of land from the village of Montgomery which provided the site for the Montgomery Campus Library.

Of all the changes that have taken place in libraries, Hettrich said today's technology is the most surprising change she has seen. But unlike many people of her generation who dislike today's modern technology, she applauds it and sees it as progress.

When she joined the board, computers, cellphones and all the other technology available today was unheard of. Patrons wanting to find a book would go through the alphabetically arranged cards in the wooden card files to see where it was located in the library. That same card file, minus its cards, is still on display in the Oswego Campus Library as a reminder of the past. Patrons raised in today's computer era pass by the cabinet every day, not knowing how important it was not many years ago.

They now type the book title on a typewriter keyboard attached to a computer to find out where the book is located. And there are people who are still trying to master the modern computers.
Today many printed books are replaced by or supplemented by electronic versions of books. And each one of these new electronic machines can hold copies of numerous different books.
Hettrich is not a fan of these books. Like many patrons, she still prefers to have a paper book into which one can insert bookmarks and which you can take anywhere inside or outside to read in comfort.

Newspapers also are now available electronically, but she does not think they will replace the paper copy.

Hettrich recalls that when she first joined the board, meetings often went to 11 p.m., but this was because the members were very informal, she said. Meetings today are still informal, but they spend more time on business, so they often end in less than an hour.

Hettrich said she never anticipated the downtown Oswego Campus Library becoming this large. And she never thought about a Montgomery Campus Library until the former township library became a library district and then won approval in a referendum to annex the village of Montgomery in the-mid 1980s.

Although she was first elected 44 years ago, she does not think the qualifications to serve on the board have changed since then.

So is there anything she would have done differently or changed?

"I cannot think of one goal I did not accomplish during my time on the board," she said.

When she raps the gavel to open the April 26 meeting, it will be her last time to do so. After the new board is sworn in and seated and the members choose a new board president, Hettrich will take it in as an audience member for the first time in 44 years.

It will be a bittersweet time for her because of her love for serving the library. But she assured everyone she won't be a stranger. "I'll be making frequent visits to both campuses," she said.