Paper Mustaches

Rita, a volunteer at the Woods branch, shows off her crafting skills

As a kid, didn’t you just love the first time you were allowed to use the scissors? I would cut a piece of construction paper into tiny confetti just to keep the scissors in my hand. Or what about your first glue stick? And glitter? Pure bliss.

Wouldn’t you love to spend a day once in a while with the old scissors and glue stick, instead of a keyboard and presentations? As a volunteer at the Woods Memorial Branch Library of the Pima County Public Library system, Rita gets to do that every time she is in the library.

When I met her, she ushered me to her work space in the library office and immediately pulled out a paper mustache from a pile she had accumulated. Putting it up to her face she said, “Look how fun my job is." Cutting out paper mustaches is just a sample of her volunteer work, at the Woods Memorial Library. She enjoys developing creative projects for the children at the library.

Rita lives in the neighborhood and after she retired thought it would be fun to volunteer at the library. She is an avid reader so it made perfect sense for her to spend time in a place where she is surrounded by books. She told me it was like "...putting the fox in the hen house.”

And you can see how much fun she is having by just watching her prepare paper artist palettes for an upcoming program. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and the staff at Woods Memorial Library are very appreciative of Rita’s presence and the help she provides.

Painter palettes wait for the next Picasso

When I told Rita I hoped to be working in a public library very soon, she said “Working in the library is the greatest job ever because everyone here loves their job." From what I have learned so far in the library, her words ring very true.

Written by Samantha Barry