Broadwater School and Community Library Honors Longtime Librarian
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Broadwater School and Community Library Honors Longtime Librarian Nancy Marks A host of well-wishers greeted former librarian Kay Ingalls at a gathering Thursday night at the Library. The group included book club members, former and current teachers, Library Board members and friends whom Kay had worked with through her 36 years at the job. She retired in November 2022.
Superintendent Susie Hedalen awarded Kay a trophy sponsored by Library board members. Susie pointed out how Kay had affected so many students’ lives by pointing them toward reading and had helped students on a weekly basis toward achieving their General Education Degree (GED) through the Old Baldy Education program. “In her 36 years as a librarian Kay made all the difference to our youth and Broadwater County citizens with her dedication to their education and interests,” Susie said.
Kay is a rancher’s wife and mother of two children, Ellie and Louis. She and her husband, Kelly, met in Niger, Africa when they were both serving in the Peace Corps in 1976. Originally from the Midwest, Kay had to face many adjustments to the life of raising sheep and living “in the boonies”.
The librarian position fit Kay well because she had a varied education and experience background. She has a degree in biology from the University of Illinois with a minor in chemistry and physics. She worked as a veterinarian’s assistant in Decatur, Illinois. For nine years she served as a naturalist at a Mississippi Palisades state park in northern Illinois.
One of Kay’s most memorable library jobs was moving the library to the newly built Broadwater School and Community Library. The building opened in 1995. ”We combined the high school and elementary school libraries which was a big feat. Going from physical card catalogs to a computerized card catalog system and meshing all the books to alphabetically correct on the shelves was a huge job. I had a whole group of volunteers to help me which was fun and cool, but really hard work. It was also a time to cull books that were obsolete. The experience modernized us,” she said.
What Kay enjoyed most about the job was the weekly program, Books and Babies, from Montana State Library. She instituted the Library Book Club which has been active since January 2002.
She also implemented a Townsend Artists program. “The job had so many facets. You didn’t have to just catalog books. I enjoyed the interaction with people,” she concluded.
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PhotoCredit: Nancy Marks
Image 1 Caption: Friends gather to congratulate librarian Kay Ingalls on her retirement. Left to right: Magalie Balanger, Ann Ingram, Vicki Harvey, Bev Monigal, Nancy Marks, Kay; Samara Lynde, Dawn Reynolds, Shelley
