Grantee Partner Spotlight: South Macon Public Library

A Q&A with Vicki Carr

Director of the South Macon Public Library

We want to be the hub of our community. To provide what they need. We meet them where they’re at. 

We have boosted our Wi-Fi, so that people can use it from the parking lot. The school uses smart tablets, for the kids to do homework. Lots of times, there will be parents with their kids in the parking lot, on our Wi-Fi, getting homework done. This is a good community to live in. People care about each other. That’s the nice thing about it. 

What is the origin story of the library?

Well, it started out as a mobile home, first as a bus that came to town. I remember that, as a little girl. It came in with the books. Then the citizens decided it should be something permanent – a mobile home, a single wide trailer. Books, part-time hours. Then area citizens fundraised, and 30 years ago built the library that we are in today. It was a labor of love for our community. We had several donations from very active members of the community – teachers were very involved. It really was a community effort. 

In terms of your own trajectory, how did you arrive at this work?

Well, first of all this is a part-time job; I have a full-time job, working for a legal publication, supervising court collections. I was on the library’s board, and have always been an active participant. When the past director, Kay Burrous, retired, I was asked if I wanted to take over as director. I don’t have a degree in library science or anything; but I do have an associate’s degree in business from Richland Community College, and in many ways this is similar to a business. I was raised where you give back, that’s part of life. I had served on the school board while my kids were growing up. And later I was approached to serve as a trustee on the community college board. It’s all part of the whole. I keep busy. 

What does success, or impact, look like to you? 

So, I had a young man come in. He was looking for a job. He said "I just heard from Steak ‘n Shake, that I need to fill out the application online by tomorrow. I know nothing about computers." We pulled it up and helped him with each section. He filled it out. Left. A week or two later, I went into the Steak ‘n Shake and met my son, who is a police officer. The young man I’d helped came over to wait on us and said “I got the job.” “Wouldn’t have gotten it without your help.” I can’t tell you how moving that was, in front of my son and husband. That is success. That is us doing our job. 

Anything else?

With the Illinois Humanities grant, we’ve hired someone to oversee programming. We have a partnership with the Macon County Health Department and want to do a diabetics class. She’ll help to facilitate that. Also, the Illinois Humanities application asked for our logo and we don’t have one. So, she contacted the arts teacher at the school district. The kids will create designs, and then we’ll have the community vote, and then present the winners to our board of directors. So, we’ll have a logo. There are only so many hours in the day, and these are things we wanted to do. 

About South Macon Public Library