60 Years of Library Service: A Conversation with Jean Lythgoe

Jean Lythgoe began her career at Rockford Public Library at just 18 years old. Six decades later, she's become a beloved fixture and true legend of the institution. In this episode, we sit down with Jean to explore how libraries have transformed and her perspective on the importance of libraries today. 

Note: Jean retired shortly before this episode was recorded, capping off an extraordinary 60-year career in public service.

Transcript

Lara Griffin 0:00

So if you could go back and give advice to yours to yourself on your first day at the library, well, what would it be?

Jean Lythgoe 0:08

Relax. One of my supervisors said I'd been there for six months, and it wasn't until I was like really off my probation period that I said anything besides hello and goodbye. [both laugh] [lofi music plays]

Lara Griffin 0:44

Get your ears ready. We're here with a local legend and my favorite, Jean Lythgoe. This year she celebrates her 60-year anniversary at the Rockford Public Library. Jean is a purveyor of local history and has helped Rockford residents find more than just books. She's helped them find belonging. We'll hear her reflections on how libraries have evolved and what it means to devote a lifetime to one place. Whether you're a lifelong library lover or just someone who appreciates a good story, you're in for a treat. Let's begin our conversation with Jean Lythgoe. Welcome, Jean.

Jean Lythgoe 1:24

Good morning, Lara. Good to see you.

Lara Griffin 1:26

Good to be with you today. So, one question I had is, what drew you to the library and what was it like when you first started 60 years ago?

Jean Lythgoe 1:39

Well, I was already a library fan. Early on after we'd moved to Rockford and I was attending grade school, someone from the library came out to talk about the library. And I came home and told my folks about it, and I was excited because before we came to Rockford, we'd been living out in the country in another state. And I said, Rockford has something called a public library, and you can check books out for free if you bring them back on time.

Jean Lythgoe 2:12

And for me, that was the magic that is the library, and some of the magic is still there. And of course, when you're that young, you don't understand about taxes, but it's still, if you live in the city limits, you can get your library card, check your materials out, enjoy them, bring them back for the next guy to enjoy. And it's it's a wonderful concept of sharing.

Lara Griffin 2:35

So, what year did you start?

Jean Lythgoe 2:36

1965.

Lara Griffin 2:38

Okay. Mid-century. [both laugh] Like it was a different time. So do you remember your first day on the job? And what stands out about that memory?

Jean Lythgoe 2:51

Well, I don't remember all of it. I do remember my boss, Miss Helen Norris. When it was time for morning break, she bought me a 10-cent cup of coffee. The maintenance crew made the coffee in the morning at that point. And as I said, it was only 10 cents. So she bought me my cup of coffee. When I started, my first supervisor was Polly Saunders. Her husband, Fred Saunders, worked in the post office and was, I believe, the first African American to become a foreman of a team in Rockford. And his brother was Joseph Saunders, who published the Crusader newspaper.

Lara Griffin 3:33

Wow.

Jean Lythgoe 3:34

That was pretty, pretty heady stuff. my job in technical processes was with the other girls, as we were, were to type the catalog cards because we were going to be moving into the addition, which had just been finished, and there would have to be card catalogs on each floor. So we were typing the subject headings for those, and others in the department were typing the new catalog cards for the new materials as well. So basically, I typed seven hours a day, and the eighth hour of my workday, I arranged the cards in alphabetical order after Polly Saunders had proofread them to make sure I had typed them correctly.

Lara Griffin 4:19

Wow.

Jean Lythgoe 4:19

So that's what I did first.

Lara Griffin 4:21

Were there more than one branch at the time?

Jean Lythgoe 4:26

There were six branches.

Lara Griffin 4:27

Oh my goodness.

Jean Lythgoe 4:28

Let me see. On the west side, Rockton Center, West End, Montague, on the east side, Highland Branch, Southeast Branch, which eventually becomes Rock River. And we did have a bookmobile back then.

Lara Griffin 4:50

Okay.

Jean Lythgoe 4:51

Yes, it was one of the big old fashioned bookmobiles, and it was doing pretty well. Although in its later years the brakes got a little wonky, and sometimes the driver would come back with, "Well, I was going down the hill on Central Avenue."

Lara Griffin 5:11

Awesome. So, what are some of the biggest changes that you've seen in the library?

Jean Lythgoe 5:17

Well, technology, of course. Now our catalog is on the computer. People come in and use computers without thinking about it for most people, you know. We still have a few people that they're getting there.

Lara Griffin 5:32

Yeah.

Jean Lythgoe 5:33

But it's very nice to see that people have become very comfortable with the computers, and we all we all know that it was a learning curve for everybody in Rockford, so that was kind of fun. And of course, things like podcasts, you know, nothing like that. There was a librarian who I think sometimes went to the radio station to record book talks and things like that. So it's kind of like some of the things are similar, we're just using different technology.

Lara Griffin 6:02

Yeah, it's evolved in a different way. And let's see... what innovations or programs are you proudest of witnessing?

Jean Lythgoe 6:14

I think one of the things that impressed me the most, starting in 1996 when Illinois started the library systems.

Lara Griffin 6:22

Okay.

Jean Lythgoe 6:22

And we were, of course, at that point part of the Northern Illinois library system. And there were probably eight to ten systems within the state, I believe. We could borrow from within the system and we could borrow further apart, further afield for interlibrary loan if we needed to. And it has grown over the years to the extent that the systems have combined.

Lara Griffin 6:48

Okay.

Jean Lythgoe 6:49

And so now it's Rails Reading across Illinois libraries, and we can all still borrow from each other, and that's exciting too.

Lara Griffin 6:57

Yeah, that's so interesting. So if not... a library can't hold every book that's printed. So the Rails helps in... like if you've ever done an interlibrary loan. If people don't know what an interlibrary loan is, would you share?

Jean Lythgoe 7:17

It's a wonderful service. And and yes, I use it a lot too. We can't, no library can have the entire collection of the world. But very often another library 200 miles away downstate might have the book you're looking for. You can fill out your interlibrary loan request. You can phone us, and we'll do it over the phone. You can show up in person and we can start ..., I'd say start the paperwork, start the work on the computer. And then the request is set out.

Jean Lythgoe 7:50

And if there's a library that has the book and is willing to lend it, they'll send it up to Rockford. The length of the loan is dependent on that lending library. Well, it is their book, you know. So you usually have two or three weeks to read it, and it's a great way to utilize ou r tax dollars wisely.

Lara Griffin 8:12

Yes. And I remember being like looking through our catalog and like, oh my goodness, I can't find the book that I want. And then I learned about the interlibrary loan, and I've started to, I have so many that I've gotten from just usually it's like those one-off like gardening books or...

Jean Lythgoe 8:32

Right, yes, or the third book in the series that's missing from our library.

Lara Griffin 8:38

So in your years, do you hear, do you have a story, a favorite story about helping a patron or something that comes to mind, like in what ways...

Jean Lythgoe 8:54

Well the this one is a little bit weird. This is a local history question. Back in the... oh golly, in the 1800s, late 1800s, early 1900s, we've seen photographs, early 1900s, of the riverside of the Carnegie Library. And then down at the foot of Mulberry Street, just before it hits the river, there was what was a Civil War cannon. It was called a parrot cannon, I believe after probably a general or something like that.

Jean Lythgoe 9:32

Anyhow, one day somebody who's a local historian said to me, So what do you think ever happened to that parrot cannon? And I said, I don't know. You know, it probably disappeared during World War II when they were collecting metal for the government for the war effort. So some time went on, and we both learned over the years that it at one point it had been moved up to the east side of Memorial Hall and was up there for a while.

Jean Lythgoe 10:09

And then 10 years later, from your initial question, I was looking up something else, and right next to the column of the article I was actually looking at was something about the cannon being taken for the war effort. So I called, so I called him up and said, Hey, guess what? I finally found the answer. And I wasn't even looking for it. And that's what happens when you're doing research. You go, oh, thank goodness I remembered who who wanted to know that.

Lara Griffin 10:43

Yeah.

Jean Lythgoe 10:43

Yeah.

Lara Griffin 10:44

S o is that as you know, your job has evolved.

Jean Lythgoe 10:48

Yes.

Lara Griffin 10:49

So you are now mostly in local history.

Jean Lythgoe 10:53

Right.

Lara Griffin 10:54

So what are the aspects of local history? Like, can you share what local history is and what you enjoy or love about it?

Jean Lythgoe 11:01

Well, it's it's going to be specific to Rockford and Winnebago County with a little bit about Stevenson and Boone County. And both of those counties, for example, the Freeport Library in Stevenson County has a wonderful local history genealogy collection. So we don't have to have a lot of what they would have, but we have little bits. And the same with Boone County because they've got the Boone County Museum and things like that. But so it's going to be specific to the county.

Jean Lythgoe 11:35

I mean, generally speaking, the recorded history goes back into like the 1830s or so, when you have the Black Hawk War, you have Germanicus Kent, Lewis Lemon, and Thatcher Blake coming to Rockford in 1834, the county being formed in 1836. This little town halfway between Chicago and Galena, where all the Galena lead mines were, was calling itself Midway. And then they decided maybe that's not very dignified, and they named it Rockford instead because of the ford where you could cross the river. And then later on they put the dam right where the ford was because they knew it was a solid bottom.

Lara Griffin 12:26

Okay.

Jean Lythgoe 12:26

And now it's exciting to learn that there's a I guess... they're gonna try for a hydro project at the dam and try and use it to ... electricity for some of the city, some of the homes in the downtown area. So it'd be interesting to see if that could come to fruition.

Lara Griffin 12:46

Yeah.

Jean Lythgoe 12:46

So things come around again in Rockford a lot too.

Lara Griffin 12:50

Yeah, I love going to you and being like, so what was here? I think some of the staff know to go to you and ask you, because the homes here are like, they haven't been renovated a lot of them. And you are able to find out who owned them before.

Jean Lythgoe 13:15

And yeah, we we have things like we have Rockford City Directories back to 1857. So it sometimes it takes a little digging in the older ones because there's no house numbers, people. You have to backtrack and use other sources, including the digitized version of the newspaper, Newsbank, which you can use here in the library, or with your Rockford Public Library card, you can do it at home and have lots of fun falling down rabbit holes.

Jean Lythgoe 13:44

So there's a lot of good information out there that can be found. We have a subscription for use in the library for ancestry.com, so people can work on their genealogy as well. And we we help people with... they'll hit a brick wall or they'll have a question and or they'll go, where was Peach Street? What is Peach Street? Well, I'll tell you what, Peach Street is now called West Jefferson Street.

Lara Griffin 14:08

Oh, so interesting.

Jean Lythgoe 14:10

So there's lots of streets that the names were changed, and you get to learn that too.

Lara Griffin 14:16

Yeah, I always think of you and the other local history staff as detectives. [laughs]

Jean Lythgoe 14:24

We are!

Lara Griffin 14:25

Always sleuthing, always discovering, just putting puzzles together of Rockford's past. So I've always admired that about you guys.

Jean Lythgoe 14:39

Well, we get to have a lot of fun doing it. I mean, it's sometimes it's frustrating where you go, we should be able to find the answer to this. And we have maps, of course.

Lara Griffin 14:50

So yes. So, in with your perspective, what role do you think libraries should play in today's ever evolving society?

Jean Lythgoe 15:02

Well, I think we still have a very important role to play. First of all, I've often thought a lot of what libraries are about is sharing information. And you're sharing information either by books, you're sharing knowledge as well. And that's the whole point of it. You share it. You check out your materials, you bring them back. The next person gets to read that. That's called sharing in my book.

Lara Griffin 15:30

Yeah.

Jean Lythgoe 15:30

And it's a wonderful way for people that you don't always know who's going to be the next person reading their book, but you might run into them later on and say, Hey, I read this series at the library. They go, Oh, I do too. And the next thing you know, you're talking about it. But I think you can use that information not only for personal enjoyment, but a new recipe that might just make everybody happy, especially ones with chocolate in them.

Jean Lythgoe 15:58

Learning about what has to be done around the city, things that need fixing, you know, and people being able to help out and share. And we all want to be nice... if we could all get along. That'd be fun. That'd be another little another part of library sharing. [laughs]

Lara Griffin 16:14

Yes. And I like the whole idea of like sharing is community building.

Jean Lythgoe 16:20

It is.

Lara Griffin 16:20

Like I've always enjoyed our conversations about recipes. [both laugh] For me being able to see the books that are on hold, I'm like, dang, Jean's got all the good ones. So I've always been taking photos of the books that you have on hold because I'm like, okay, I gotta put in my...

Jean Lythgoe 16:49

Well... there's some, there's a still a lot of wonderful writing being done out there these days.

Lara Griffin 16:54

Yes, yes. And you're on top of it.

Jean Lythgoe 16:57

Well, sometimes. Maybe since I'm retiring, I might have a chance to be more on top of it. I don't know.

Lara Griffin 17:04

And there's this one thing you've I I've heard you share about like diversifying your genres of reading. Do you want to share that? I feel like you've said something to where it helps shape our mind.

Jean Lythgoe 17:21

Well, I think it does. Particularly if you're reading history or about the culture in other countries, it's not the same as actually traveling and going to it, but it's a lot of fun because you get to learn it, or as I like to say, you can go traveling in your armchair and there's no mosquitoes. [Lara laughs]

Jean Lythgoe 17:49

You know, so it helps understanding how and why people do things. And that's true also if you were say doing genealogy research in that they say when you know the period of time when your ancestors came over, read a history book of that time period. Find out what was going on in that country. Lots of times young men came to America because otherwise they would be drafted into their European army, whatever country it was, and some of those countries, their draft was 25 years.

Lara Griffin 18:26

Oh wow.

Jean Lythgoe 18:26

You know, and the chances of a soldier surviving that long weren't very good.

Lara Griffin 18:32

Yeah. I yeah, so that's really interesting because like context is everything.

Jean Lythgoe 18:38

Right.

Lara Griffin 18:38

So it's like you can't just say like this time period versus our current time period are the same. It's like this completely different mindset.

Jean Lythgoe 18:51

Right.

Lara Griffin 18:52

So yeah. So what does it mean to you to have spent 60 years in one place?

Jean Lythgoe 19:00

I can't believe it happened. [both laugh] I will tell you a story that I've probably told far too often. When I started here, the personnel clerk came around and explained after I'd worked at the library for eight years, I would be vested in the retirement fund. Well, when you're 18, that doesn't mean a lot of anything. But I did thank her politely, and my brain was going, how could anyone possibly work in the same place for eight years?

Lara Griffin 19:30

So what kept you here?

Jean Lythgoe 19:34

I think the people, the questions, you it's been a good place to work, you know, and people are respectful of each other, and that's important too.

Lara Griffin 19:44

Yeah, that's awesome. So if you could go back and give advice to yourself on your first day at the library, well, what would it be?

Jean Lythgoe 19:54

Relax. [both laugh] But one of my supervisors said... I'd been there for six months, and it wasn't until I was like really off my probation period that I said anything besides hello and goodbye.

Lara Griffin 20:13

So were you nervous that day?

Jean Lythgoe 20:17

Oh of course.

Lara Griffin 20:18

Yeah. And like how old were you?

Jean Lythgoe 20:23

18.

Lara Griffin 20:24

Okay. And so was it, I think, is it a time when a lot of women were out there working, or is it was it...

Jean Lythgoe 20:34

Oh yes.

Lara Griffin 20:35

Okay.

Jean Lythgoe 20:35

It was it was well accepted by then.

Lara Griffin 20:38

Okay.

Jean Lythgoe 20:40

My mother and my two aunts both worked before they were married.

Lara Griffin 20:45

Okay.

Jean Lythgoe 20:46

So I already knew that there was a generation ahead of me that you just did that.

Lara Griffin 20:51

Uh-huh.

Jean Lythgoe 20:52

You got out of school and you went to work.

Lara Griffin 20:54

Okay. Cool. So what has been a memorable, like we love your recommendation, a book recommendation. What's been a memorable book that you've read this past year?

Jean Lythgoe 21:08

Well, there's been a lot, but I think one of the ones, well, there's one I'm currently rereading on a regular basis. It's called Through a Stranger's Eyes. It's by Will Bonsel. It's set in a post-apocalyptic world where the country he goes to, Hesperia, is sort of the one utopian country in the rest of a dystopian world. And use solar and wind power. They're vegan.

Lara Griffin 21:45

Okay.

Jean Lythgoe 21:46

You don't just have rules set down on high, you have consensus. Everybody has to agree to the rules before they can actually put the rules into effect. So it's a fun book, and so and there's a lot of sharing in that book, so that's probably why I like it.

Lara Griffin 22:09

Oh, that's so yeah. Post-apocalyptic.

Jean Lythgoe 22:13

Yeah.

Lara Griffin 22:13

Things change.

Jean Lythgoe 22:14

Yep.

Lara Griffin 22:15

So what's been your favorite section of the library?

Jean Lythgoe 22:22

Oh, there's so many. I'm a big fan of mystery books, cookbooks, gardening, history, of course. You know, those are some of the major ones, but I read others too. So there's a lot of really good writing these days in the young adults section.

Lara Griffin 22:43

Yeah.

Jean Lythgoe 22:43

And I'm enjoying some of their books as well.

Lara Griffin 22:47

I love that you read so many genres and that you're in step with everything that's going on, and I feel really behind. [both laugh]

Jean Lythgoe 23:00

I think you're doing fine, really, really.

Lara Griffin 23:05

As we wrap up our time, is there anything else you'd like to share to the Rockford community?

Jean Lythgoe 23:16

Well, I think that libraries are all about sharing knowledge and information, and I think we need to avail ourselves of the wonderful services we have. A lot of our databases you can read at home, and you know, whether you're working on getting yourself a job or you're wanting to know more about the makerspace or the digital van that we have nowadays, that's all things to help us learn more so that we can help other people as well. And I'm hoping we can all share things and work together as a community and that things go well.

Lara Griffin 23:54

Yeah. Thanks, Jean. I really enjoyed having you. I'm glad I got this chance to ask you all these fun questions.

Jean Lythgoe 24:02

Well, thank you, Lara.

Lara Griffin 24:06

So, thank you so much for sharing your time and your stories and your journey with us today. And it's rare to meet someone who's given so much of their life to one place, and even rarer to hear from someone who's done it with so much heart. So I appreciate you. And I just remember like the when I first started at the library and I heard about you, and you're so easy to talk to. And our conversation probably started mostly in the beginning with gardening.

Jean Lythgoe 24:41

Probably.

Lara Griffin 24:42

So I'm gonna really miss you. I'm so... hold on.... [Lara tears up]

Jean Lythgoe 24:51

It's okay. Well, I'm going to miss all the wonderful people that work here, and I'm gonna miss some of the reference questions. But I'm going to get to be a library user. [Lara laughs] I mean, I've always been a library user, but I'll be able to come in and look at the new books and say, oh, I want to take that one.

Lara Griffin 25:11

Yeah. So just so glad to have this moment with you. And so wish you the best with your retirement. [Lara laughs]

Jean Lythgoe 25:22

Well, thank you very much. I's gonna be different, that's all I know.

Lara Griffin 25:26

I'm gonna miss visiting you as much as I do on a daily basis. So wishing you the best, and thank you all for listening. [lofi music plays]