T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Longtime Marshalltown Public Library (MPL) librarian Monica Rohde-Fulton is retiring after over 30 years working there, first part-time and then full-time beginning in 2002. A retirement reception is set for Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the library.

In 1995, a few years removed from the Iowa Trust scandal that had decimated the city’s finances and forced leadership to lay off every single part-time employee, Monica Rohde-Fulton, who had grown up in Wyoming and previously served as an instructor at Iowa State University and Marshalltown Community College, was the first person hired on a part-time basis at the Marshalltown Public Library (MPL). Over three decades later, Rohde-Fulton is finally saying goodbye after spending 23 plus years as a full-time librarian in addition to her initial volunteer and part-time service.

She started primarily in adult fiction and non-fiction at first before moving to the information desk to replace a retiree, and she took classes to gain her official state certification as a librarian. In 2002, Rohde-Fulton moved into a full-time role at the desk.

“When I first started working, we weren’t even automated. Everything was checked out a different way, so I was there as automation started,” she said. “And then we got five computers for the public to use. That was a big deal.”

MPL Director Sarah Rosenblum, who also plans to retire this year, has worked with Rohde-Fulton for the last 15 years and called her “a rock” at the information desk.

“This is direct public service, and this is something that Monica has probably helped, I don’t know, a few thousand people, over these years,” Rosenblum said.

Beyond the shifts in technology, Rohde-Fulton worked for the MPL through the move from the old downtown location that is now the city hall building and its current home on West Boone Street, and she leaves as a major renovation project is underway and expected to be completed sometime yet this year. Access to information has changed dramatically as well with the widespread availability of the internet and smartphones, so Rohde-Fulton doesn’t get as many requests on history or businesses and others as they used to back then.

With a PhD in botany from North Dakota State University, Rohde-Fulton initially taught for a year at ISU and briefly at MCC, and she came to Marshalltown when her husband, who has a PhD in the same field, was hired at MCC. As her two daughters were growing up, however, she decided that she preferred the pace of the library and do similar research to what she did as a student and a professor.

“She has a wealth of knowledge, especially about local history and things, that she’s garnered from working. That’s probably one of our highest uses are questions about the community, local history, and we even get questions sometimes from the T-R,” Rosenblum said. “(She’s) very educated. She thinks about it and applies the scientific reasoning to a question. In this day and age, people are so used to instant gratification that when we’re studying the question to make sure we’re giving you correct information, I think sometimes people are like ‘Well, why aren’t they just spitting it out at me like Jeopardy or something?'”

Just as she came on at a difficult financial moment in the city’s history, Rohde-Fulton is departing on the heels of major losses in local and federal funding due to government actions, and she acknowledged that it is a challenging time for public libraries everywhere.

“It seems ironic that we’re facing another financial downturn and Monica’s leaving us,” Rosenblum said. “It is a tough time, and it is kind of surprising seeing all the proposals coming out of Des Moines. And I’m dismayed by it.”

Nonetheless, she’ll never forget her coworkers, longtime patrons and everyone else who made her tenure so special.

“I’ll actually get to read more since I’ll have more time. So many times at home, if I sit down to read I’ll fall asleep,” she said.

A retirement reception with cake and refreshments for Rohde-Fulton will be held on Saturday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. at the library.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.