Todays News

Parting is sweet sorrow

Rosenblum retires, ends 15-year tenure as Marshalltown Public Library director

Exactly 15 years to the day have passed since Sarah Rosenblum was hired as the director of the Marshalltown Public Library (MPL). As with many things, it has come to an end. Friday marked the final day for Rosenblum's time at the library, and the first day of her retirement.

"I have mixed feelings," she said. "It's going to be weird as I have been working in libraries since I was 16 . . . I have been either working or going to college. . . . It's just time for the next phase of my life.”

With her retirement, Rosenblum is planning a move to Vermont. When her mother's family immigrated to America in 1913, they settled in New Hampshire. Rosenblum spent summers in Boston where her mother was from and had always intended to spend her life in New England.

"Now I'm going to live there," she said. "I'm very excited, and I hope to get involved with the library there. It's going to be different."

Rosenblum is also planning on checking items off of her bucket list, such as visiting New Zealand.

"A childhood friend of mine runs a major university library there, and I'm hoping to see her," she said. "I was one of those horse girls, so I also hope to do some equine therapy help in Vermont. I want to learn about my new community and state and I hope to have a lot of visitors."

Mayor Mike Ladehoff said he is going to miss Rosenblum a lot.

"I don't think people realize what goes into being a library director and the stellar job Sarah has done for the community and for the county," he said.

She has certainly made an impact on the library during her 15 years – expanding programs and services, hours the public can access the facility, completing renovations to the building and on her staff.

"I've had a great team and great board members," Rosenblum said.

"Sarah was a very supportive boss that valued opportunities for continuing education and innovation of library services," said Assistant Director Katie Fink, who is now serving as the interim director. "I’ll miss having her here to be a sounding board for new programs or other ideas that we have for the library."

Even though she has to say farewell to Rosenblum, Fink is happy for her.

"She’s had a long and accomplished career in libraries and deserves to have a relaxing and fun retirement," she said.

For a 35,000-square-foot library, there are a lot of resources the public can use, such as audio and visual upgrades, a place for summer sing-a-longs and Holocaust exhibits, the annual Friends of the Library book sale and even breastfeeding pods.

Rosenblum leaves the MPL on a high note after completing the renovation that began earlier this year and resulted in three new study rooms, a conference space, lounge area and a podcast room.

"We started talking about internal space. The space which had the reference desk was important, but there was space surrounding it that could have had a better purpose," she said. "I think we found that purpose – six new spaces and since we opened, we've had 600 bookings and 2,600 people used them."

Rosenblum considers her crowning achievement as winning the 2013 National Medal for Museum and Library Services.

While Ladehoff did say the award was a highlight of Rosenblum's service, he views her crowning achievement as serving Marshalltown at the highest possible level.

"The community loves the library, and that is not something that just happens," he said. "People are supportive of her and the endeavors she took to keep the library up-to-date, golden and welcoming."

Career

Originally from New Orleans, Rosenblum began her library career at the Houston Public Library as a teenager. Her journey has taken her to affluent, middle class, suburban, urban libraries and ending with rural.

"I feel like I have ticked all of the boxes," she said, laughing.

That career has taken her to various places in the United States and even across the pond to the United Kingdom from 2003 to 2007.

"I ended up with two great jobs there," she said. "I worked for the Imperial College of London, which is like the MIT of the U.K., and for the London School of Economics. . . . I did love living in London and working at those two institutions. I also worked in grad school at the Stanford Business School Library. So, I've worked at three of the top universities in the world, but my heart is in public libraries."

After returning to the U.S. and earning her master's degree in library science from San Jose State University, Rosenblum worked at the Mountain View Public Library in the heart of Silicon Valley. Then she and her then-husband moved to New Jersey where she worked for the Millburn Public Library. Then they moved back to California and Rosenblum found employment with the Newport Beach Public Library and the Orange Public Library, where she worked on expansion plans.

Following Orange, Calif., Rosenblum worked in Hennepin County in Minnesota before making the move to Marshalltown.

"Honestly, when I came here, I did not envision I would stay here for 15 years, but here I am, and we've done great work," she said. "I had a great team and support from the community. Now this renovation project is wrapped up, and I feel it will have a lot of impact moving forward."

Rosenblum had never lived in a community as small as Marshalltown, but the library, the town and the spirit of volunteerism and collaboration captured her attention.

"Of all the communities I have worked in, this is the only one where I feel the library gets invited to the table for social issues and other things that are going on," she said. "I haven't seen that in other communities."

Challenges

The biggest challenges Rosenblum met as the MPL director was keeping up with technology and the budget. She said no matter what someone thinks about city officials, they do a good job.

"Property taxes are what funds this library, roads, the fire and police departments," Rosenblum said. "It's ever shrinking, and that is frustrating."

She remembered when Marshalltown voters approved the 2015 levy for the library, which allowed it to be open seven days a week.

"The loss of the levy seven years later was a blow,” Rosenblum said. "That was significant money, up to $250,000. We've seen cutbacks. I know the community will step up and help, but they can't pay salaries or electric bills. Like any organization, the biggest expense we have is salaries."

The community support and the budget -- although shrinking -- has turned the MPL into the most used public building in the city.

"We just keep trying to move forward and figure out how we face obstacles, but sometimes libraries absorb the pain instead of showing it," she said. "We may have to look at decisions such as reducing hours or days of service."

It saddens Rosenblum to imagine a grandparent trying to take a grandkid to the library because good memories were made there, and they go on a day when it is closed and find the doors locked.

"Unforutnately, we have to make some choices," she said. "We don't take these things lightly. We debate about how we manage our budget and how we continue to provide outstanding service to the community."

Additional challenges Rosenblum recalled was the start of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, when she had to send everyone home.

"I remember the first day coming back in, it was so quiet," she said. "We tried to keep busy by starting a project of radio frequency tags on every item. I would get up every hour and walk around the building, and it was so quiet."

Not only did Rosenblum steer the library through the pandemic, but also through the 2018 tornado and the 2020 derecho. Following the tornado, the library became the epicenter for the City of Marshalltown, but first she said there had to be a generator as the library did not have electricity. Rosenblum was informed that a generator was on its way and hooked up within a couple hours. The next day, Alliant Energy restored electricity to the building.

"Getting the library a generator was one of the few things I did not get accomplished, because we were talking about it before the tornado," she said. "I haven't gotten it yet, but I know it's on the list."

Interim

Now Rosenblum is passing the list and the torch -- temporarily -- to Fink, who will serve in an interim capacity for the next six months.

"I’m excited to step in and serve our community as interim library director," she said. "I think it will be a tough budget season for the city and the library, and the library will probably be facing challenging budget decisions due to the cap on property taxes passed by the state legislature last year. I hope that our community rallies behind us and that the library will still be able to be open seven days per week."

Rosenblum stressed that the Marshalltown City Council does not decide who will be the library director. Rather, the Marshalltown Library Board of Trustees, who are appointed by the mayor and approved by the council, choose the director.

"That should hopefully happen sometime next spring, because of budget issues," she said.

Rosenblum said the next director should remember that the community gives a lot of support. As part of her final words, she asked the community to remind elected officials of the importance of the MPL.

"I hear a lot of positives, and I pass those on to the city," Rosenblum said.

A retirement reception for Rosenblum will be held at the library on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timeserepublican.com.