Polson library director named Montana Librarian of the Year

POLSON — Marilyn Trosper has never seen a tennis shoe turn into a glass slipper or watched a pumpkin morph into a carriage, but like a fairy-tale heroine, she’s experienced transformative moments.

The earliest that she can recall occurred when she was a small child and had to have a tooth pulled at the dentist. As a reward for not complaining, Trosper’s mother gave her a book, a book that opened her eyes to a remarkable new fortune.

“I had a sheltered childhood, but that book transformed me. I just loved it,” Trosper recalled.

Today, that book, Cinderella, is in tatters, but Trosper’s love of reading, and belief in its power, remains wholly intact.

In fact, Trosper has dedicated much of her adult life to sharing her love of reading with others. She began working as a library aide at what was then the Polson City Library in 1987 and became Director of Library Services in 1989.

This year, the Montana Library Association acknowledged her work by awarding her the Sheila Cates Award for Librarian of the Year. Given to one librarian annually, the award is meant to recognize outstanding leadership and accomplishment in library service.

Trosper is honored, but slightly embarrassed by the recognition, and is too modest to list the many accomplishments that earned her the award. Those who have worked closely with her over the last 24 years, however, have no qualms about singing her praises.

“Marilyn exemplifies what a library director should be,” Jackie Gran, a member of the North Lake County board of directors, said. “Everyone should aspire to her dedication and love.”

Library aide and communications liaison, Mary O’Brien, seconded Gran’s sentiments.

“She totally deserves this award, she works harder than anyone I know,” O’Brien said. “She’s completely dedicated to community service.”

According to her coworkers, Trosper has envisioned, and brought to fruition, many positive changes for the library.

Perhaps most notable: her involvement in the effort to turn Polson City Library, a subsidiary of the city that received varying amounts of money from the general fund, into the North Lake County Public Library District, an independent entity supported by tax dollars from a mill levy.

After narrowly missing the needed votes to create the district in 2008, Trosper refused to give up and continued to campaign for her cause. In late 2010, her perseverance paid off and voters approved the creation of the library district.

The initiative was a group effort, but according to Gran, Trosper deserves much of the credit.

“Her vision is so clear,” Gran said. “She worked tirelessly to hold the vision and dream together to get a library district for this area.”

The change is far more than just a new name. By creating the district, Trosper has secured long-term, permanent funding that will allow the library to meet community needs for years to come. It will also allow the library to enhance its services, including the family summer reading program and the provision of public computers and wireless Internet.

While Trosper has proposed and brought about many changes, the core of her mission has never changed — she is totally dedicated to serving the community.

According to Trosper, excellent customer service has always been her primary goal.

“The library is for everybody,” Trosper said. “Regardless of age, race or economic status, they’ll be helped here. We get a variety of questions and it doesn’t matter who’s asking, we just want to help.”

She speaks with enthusiasm about many aspects of her job, but lights up when discussing her work with children’s materials and programming.

“She knows that children need access to information in a great environment of learning,” Gran explained.

But, Trosper admits, her work in children’s services is more than professional commitment. Rather, it’s a personal passion rooted in her own library experiences.

In fact, she cites her fondest library memory as the moment she realized that she had impacted a child’s life.

For one story-time around Christmas, she presented “The Polar Express” to a group of children that included Mary O’Brien’s daughter Katie.

Not long after, O’Brien asked her daughter what she wanted for Christmas.

“A bell from Santa’s sleigh,” Katie told her mom, referring to the gift given to the protagonist of “The Polar Express.”

It was then that Trosper realized she had given her “Cinderella moment” to someone else; she had opened a door to the world of reading.

“It’s humbling to be in front of a group of children,” Trosper said. “But I realized that story had really gotten through to a child.”

When O’Brien describes her friend and co-worker she has her own literary comparison, perhaps less romantic than Cinderella, but just as complimentary.

“She’s the Little Engine That Could,” O’Brien said, smiling.

A reception honoring Trosper as the 2011 Montana Librarian of the Year will be held April 12 from 2-6 p.m. at the North Lake County Public Library; all are welcome.