Post &  Mail file photo
South Whitley librarian Darci Kessie, seen here in a 2007 file photo, is resigning her post at the library in April.

By RUTH STANLEY
Managing Editor
After more than five years of guiding the South Whitley Public Library through a period of growth, its leader is stepping down.
Darci Kessie, librarian since 2003, announced that she is resigning her post effective April 1. Kessie said she will miss the library, the patrons, working with the staff and board, and serving the community but is resigning to spend time with her mother, who has a chronic disease.
Added to the mix is an upcoming surgery of her own which she said did not enter into the decision.  “We have been weighing this decision since last summer,” said Kessie.
She said she had been asked to consider a sabbatical or to work part-time, but declined saying the position required a full-time director who is at the library and on top of things to ensure the library remains the best it can be.
“It will take someone who is very dedicated to the library and to serving the community,” said Kessie, “but I think it will be exciting position for the next director.  The changes in and the demands on public libraries are constant, but it makes it interesting and challenging. There’s a lot coming up in the next couple of years for Indiana public libraries.”
“All the board members were very saddened,” Patty Weybright, president of the South Whitley Library board, said. “Darci has done great things for the library. The technology and programs have grown by leaps and bounds. She will be very difficult to replace.”
 Kessie took over the job of South Whitley librarian after long-time librarian Marian Bolinger retired. She came in at the start of a building project that saw the size of the library facility increase and, upon its completion, a corresponding expansion in services, programs and collections.
“Libraries have changed so much. All libraries, no matter how small, have had to adapt and change,” Kessie said. “Our patrons come here for all the things that they’ve always come here for in the past, but our users are also coming here for the things that they need now such as classes and  access to technology and computers.”
“Our patrons and community are very happy with our library,” Weybright
said. “We’re very, very fortunate in this community to have the quality of
library that we do.”
So as the search begins for a new librarian for South Whitley, the board
is looking for someone who meets the state criteria as well as someone
with the same sensitivity to the community and foresight for the future of
the library, Weybright said.
“She’s going to be very difficult to replace,” Weybright said. “We have a
very arduous task ahead of us.”
Kessie has agreed to work with her replacement during the transition.

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